Team Sanford-Burnham, along with more than 750 riders, crossed the finish line to thundering applause and enthusiastic cheers on Sept. 21 as the second annual Pedal the Cause San Diego bike event came to a successful end.
Pedal the Cause San Diego, the only multiday cycling fundraiser to support cancer research in San Diego, provides critical funding to the community’s National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers. As home to three NCI-designated cancer centers, San Diego has long been a powerhouse for cancer research, prevention, and treatment. Three singular institutions, Sanford-Burnham, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, form the novel collaboration known as the San Diego National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers Council, or C3, and work together to leverage their distinct and combined resources to accelerate innovative approaches for the treatment and prevention of cancer.
The second annual ride featured 10, 25, and 50-mile courses, as well as a two-day cycling route from La Jolla to Temecula, Calif. Two-day riders gathered at UC San Diego early in the morning of Sept. 20 and embarked on an epic cycling adventure through the gorgeous late-summer terrain of Southern California on their way to the Temecula Rider Camp, located at the Tucalota Creek Ranch, for the evening. Once at the camp, affectionately known as “Tent City,” road-wary riders spent a fun and relaxing evening enjoying delicious barbecue, live entertainment, sport massages, and the camaraderie of fellow riders. The next morning, they headed back to La Jolla and joined the 10, 25, and 50-mile riders for finish-line celebrations that continued well into the evening.
The event was an incredible success—raising nearly $1 million for cancer research in San Diego. Sanford-Burnham was delighted to once again be included as a beneficiary for Pedal the Cause San Diego. Thank you to everyone— staff, volunteers, generous benefactors, and riders— who helped to make this year’s ride a phenomenal success!
We look forward to next year’s ride!
There is still time to show your support for Team Sanford-Burnham! You can donate to the team here. Gifts will be accepted through October 21, 2014.
About Pedal the Cause Founded in 2012, Pedal The Cause—San Diego is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation established to fund, plan, and manage an annual cycling fundraiser in which 100 percent of the proceeds stay in San Diego to benefit cancer research at the three National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers. The hope is that research funded by Pedal The Cause will ultimately lead to a cure for cancer, and propel San Diego to the forefront of cancer cures and care. For more information, please visit pedalthecause.org, or go to facebook.com/pedalthecause and Twitter @pedalthecause.
About the C3 The mission of the C3 is to encourage interactions between the San Diego National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated centers, with a special focus on clinical, translational, basic science, and educational activities. Each San Diego institute will share its unique capabilities and talents. Sanford-Burnham will provide access to its Chemical Library Screening Core, enabling Salk and UC San Diego to use the extensive chemical biology and drug development resources of the Prebys Center. The Prebys Center provides assay development and robust, sensitive high-throughput assays. The Center helps identify chemical compounds that lead to drug candidates that may be further developed into cancer therapies. The Salk Institute’s Cancer Center Gene Transfer, Targeting, and Therapeutics Core (GT3) will offer design, consultation, and production services for viral vectors. Viral vectors are “biological vehicles” that deliver new genes to cells to alter their function, potentially “fixing” cells that are malfunctioning. Viral vectors may be used to replace faulty genes in cancer cells, or used to boost cell functions that protect against cancer. The UC San Diego Biorepository Core will provide access to its centralized resource for patient samples and clinical information. Allowing researchers access to human samples is essential to discovering biological targets to treat cancer, translating experimental results to human disease, and for developing cancer diagnostic tests. By sharing knowledge and valuable resources, the C3 institutes are creating an era of inter-institutional support and cooperation to accelerate the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.