Here it is a year later, a year since I completed my first Tour de Pink, the ride I had set my sights on when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer just after my thirty-ninth birthday. The year itself, my second year of real cycling and post-cancer, seems as miraculous as the year of having cancer was devastating and nightmarish.
Maybe not every day of riding but almost every day of riding, there are moments of crystalline miracles, easily forgotten on the one hand–a particular color of sky when starting out, a joke, some flavor of mood, and unforgettable on the other hand–that flavor of the day stays with you forever, along with the memory of a steady tempo that is matched precisely to the body’s workings, the right combination of conversation, unlabored pedaling to one’s own thoughts, the shape of a certain bicycle ahead, the shine of simple yet highly technical machinery, a few important words that then drift through the entire ride. These miracles have been my days. And my year.
I know I will enjoy the three days of riding–200+ miles from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.–and the camaraderie that will continue from last year into tomorrow when the ride begins, along with new faces. I know my body will endure and soak up the fun of those miles as it does each day and every ride, one year to the next. And of course, I will be riding my Inspire bike. Emily Gresh
If you are so inclined, here is the link to my fund-raising page for the Tour de Pink and the Young Survival Coalition. Every donation helps ensure that the rides continue and other young women and their friends and family members receive the information, community, and support they need when facing breast cancer.
Emily On A Bicycle 
Good luck! Ride safely.
Thanks! No Alps climbing for me but it should be a fun ride.