Last year, Stephen Rider rode the 24 Foundation Grand Tour together with Tom Conrady and Vaughn Arthur in celebration of his friend Vaughn’s 25th anniversary of kicking cancer to the curb. Vaughn challenged his donors to help him reach his fundraising goal of $2,500 by saying he would dress up as Ginger from Gilligan’s Island. Stephen and Tom agreed to help by dressing up as Mary Ann and Mrs. Howell for the Atlanta event, if Vaughn reached his goal.

Stephen became involved with 24 Foundation after learning about Team Collin on a bike related forum called the Lounge.

“There were a bunch of quirky, humorous people in there and one of the primary posts referred to Team Collin,” Stephen Rider said. “It turned out that Collin was a little baby boy of one of the members of the Lounge. He posted about his family’s ordeal and specifically Collin’s fight against cancer. I found the original thread and all of the posts. I cried when I read that Collin had lost his battle at the age of two.”

After learning about Collin’s fight against cancer Stephen asked to become a member of Team Collin at 24 Foundation Indianapolis in 2012. This year Stephen is riding for one of his closest supporters, who is currently going through chemotherapy for stage three ovarian cancer. Prior to being diagnosed, Stephen’s friend donated her kidney selflessly to a neighbor in need, which has caused her chemotherapy recovery time to lengthen.

“I have had several friends and family members struggle with cancer, some winning their fight and some not,” Stephen said. “Her fight is a hard one to see, it just breaks my heart because she gave so much of herself. 24 Foundation has made me much more aware of the importance of people who are going through cancer.”