Cancer Journeys Foundation Announces the 2020 Cycling Champions

Cancer Journeys Foundation (CJF), an organization based in Manhattan Beach, CA, that has the goal of helping cancer survivors, has announced the 2020 Sprint Champions and King of the Mountain (KOM) and Queen of the Mountain (QOM) Champions. Each one of them received a custom CJF cycling jersey and a hearty congratulations from the people behind CJF. The names of the 2020 cycling champions can be seen at https://cancerjourneysfoundation.org/2020-sprint-and-king-queen-of-the-mountain-champions/.

Robert Hess, CEO of Cancer Journeys Foundation, says, “We're delighted to award these jerseys to our Sprint and King of the Mountain winners. Exercise is a key tool for keeping cancer at bay and cycling is a perfect sport. These cyclists lived our #NeverGiveUp motto throughout the competition year and came out on top.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to revise the usual format of the cycling competitions for 2020. Because cycling in groups was deemed to be too dangerous, each participant went on a solo ride and complied with all CDC guidance and logged their rides through the Strava.com platform. And it was not just a single ride. Each participant in the Sprint or KOM / QOM competitions could ride as many times as they liked, from June up to December 31, to log their best possible time. The Strava platform was used to verify the riding times for each participant to allow the champions to be chosen.

The people behind Cancer Journeys Foundation, such as Robert Hess, believe that exercise is a great way to relieve stress, especially with the ongoing pandemic. Stress has been found to affect cancer risk. Stress hormones have been observed to inhibit the process known as anoikis, which destroys diseased cells and does not allow them to spread. Chronic stress has also been observed to increase the body’s production of growth factors that tend to increase the blood supply and can hasten the development of cancerous tumors.

The cycling competitions are also supported by the Disabled Veteran Empowerment Network (DVEN), with website at https://dven.org, where Robert Hess is a member. The CJF actually started as the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project, a 501 c3 non-profit charity established by Robert Hess in 2006 to offer assistance to veterans in finding out if they are at risk of prostate cancer and detect it while it is still treatable. The scope of this charitable organization was expanded in 2016 to include all cancers and this became the Cancer Journeys Foundation, which is also a 501 c3 non-profit charity.

Exercise is a vital emotional and physical factor that can prevent cancer or its return. Thus, despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic on in-person cycling competitions, CJF sought a way to allow people to take part in a cycling competition even if they had to go on solo rides and use an online platform to log their rides.

Robert Hess believes that the best way for cancer survivors to keep the disease at bay is to ensure that their immune systems are healthy and cycling can provide the exercise needed to keep the immune system strong. Cancer cells cannot survive in bodies that have strong immune systems.

The Cancer Journeys Foundation has also announced that they are now accepting participants for the Sprint and KOM / QOM segments for the 2021 competitions. Once again, the segments have to be registered on Strava.com. The program team is also accepting suggestions at 2021competition@cancerjourneysfoundation.org.

The Cancer Journeys Foundation has also been developing a nationwide walking program that starts in Manhattan Beach and they are actively searching for cancer survivor ambassadors to lead these walks all over the country. Unfortunately, the pandemic social distancing guidelines currently prevent such activities but they will be resuming such programs whenever the CDC finally deems it is safe for people to do them.

People who are interested in knowing more about the 2021 cycling competitions may want to check out the Cancer Journeys Foundation website at https://cancerjourneysfoundation.org, or contact them on the phone or through email.