RIDE OF HER LIFE
Cancer survivor spent 70 days biking across the U.S. to spread hope
Lilian Velez has just returned home to Houston after a 70-day bike tour across the U.S. For 10 weeks, she woke at 5 a.m., riding for between eight and 15 hours. Some days, she clocked 100 miles on the bike.
Velez lists the states she traversed on two wheels — Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
She was with a team of 20. At night, they stayed at YMCAs, churches or people’s homes. Sometimes, they camped out.
“It was different each day,” Velez said.
Still, each morning started out the same. Her team gathered to dedicate the day’s ride to someone affected by cancer. It could be someone they met along the way or someone they already knew.
“We would hear all these stories, and it kept us going,” Velez said. “The thought would keep me on the bike.”
And each rider had their own story to share.
The effort is part of Texas 4000,
“It definitely helped me come out of my shell. Being vulnerable helps other people to also be vulnerable.” Lilian Velez, on sharing her cancer survival story with others
a nonprofit dedicated to “fighting cancer every mile.”
The organization selects University of Texas students for an 18-month program that culminates in a cross-country bike tour. Each rider raises at least $4,500 toward cancer research and support.
Students are selected based on their own passion to fight cancer.
While Velez said that many of her teammates had lost loved ones to the disease, she experienced it personally. She was 14 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
It was the summer between middle and high school, and she spent a lot of time at the pool.
“My mom was the one who noticed,” Velez recalled. “I basically had a belly. I gained weight but was eating less. I remember her being like, ‘Something’s not right.’ ”
That’s when the doctor appointments started. And a diagnosis quickly followed.
“It was right off the bat,” Velez said. “My tumor was sizable, about the size of a basketball.”
She underwent surgery, then four cycles of chemotherapy.
“It was a big scare, and then we got the treatment plan figured out,” Velez said.
Dr. Parth Mehta, pediatric oncologist at Texas Children’s Hopstial, said that Velez was diagnosed with dysgerminoma, a more common ovarian cancer.
Still, he explained that ovarian cancer in adolescents is rare.
Mehta said that because Velez’s tumor developed on her ovary in the abdomen, there was ample room for it to expand.
“There are a lot of places where it can grow — and it can spread,” he said. “A surgeon not only has to take out the mass itself, but they also have to do biopsies in all these spaces to make sure it hasn’t spread.”
Thankfully, Mehta said, Velez’s cancer was “very treatable.” After her chemo, Mehta said, “I would see her every three months to make sure nothing was coming back.”
Now, after five years with no signs of recurrence, she has been given a clean bill of health.
Velez was attending Camp Periwinkle, a program of Texas Children’s Hospital, when she first heard about Texas 4000.
“I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever heard of,” Velez recalled. “When I ended up going to the University of Texas, I knew I wanted to apply.”
The process was challenging and, at first, she felt vulnerable talking about cancer.
“But being in Texas 4000, everyone has a connection; everyone has a story,” Velez said. “Being able to bond over something like that is what makes the team so strong.”
She applied the fall of her junior year, went through a number of interviews and then began training.
Velez did not have experience cycling before, besides short trips to class. Before long, she was biking twice a week on her own, then coming together with her team to practice a ride together.
“My entire senior year was bike training and fundraising,” she said.
Normally, Texas 4000 starts in Austin and goes to Alaska, but COVID-19 interrupted the regular route, which requires a border crossing in Canada.
The pandemic also put on hold the normal social activities that bring the team together during the school year.
Instead, Velez said, members got to know each other while pedaling through the states. They also stopped along the way to talk at hospitals or make presentations for their evening hosts.
The students biked through cornfields and national parks. Velez covered her bike with stickers from each state they crossed.
“It was amazing,” she said. “And the 20 of us did get really close. I don’t think I’ve ever depended more on people or trusted anyone more in my life.”
After the ride, some students went back to college, while others applied for graduate school. Velez, who majored in health and society, plans to apply to a graduate program to become a physician assistant.
“I would love to go into the medical field,” she said. “It’s something I could see doing. I want to help people the way that I was helped.”
Velez said that she has been asked how a monumental bike ride can serve to fight cancer. But while sweating her way along on two wheels, up mountains and across states, Velez found similarities.
“I would think, if people can fight cancer and struggle through that, we can bike a certain number of miles each day too,” she said.
Velez made lifelong friends on the trip — and also fell in love with cycling.
“I would love to keep it up,” she said. “It’s a skill that I picked up, and that’s a gift.”
During their trek, riders were often approached by residents who would share their appreciation and their own stories of how cancer affected them.
“They were grateful we were here, spreading hope,” Velez said. “Having people tell us that was huge. It’s something I wasn’t expecting at all.”
The journey has also helped her open up more about being a cancer survivor.
“It definitely helped me come out of my shell,” Velez said. “Being vulnerable helps other people to also be vulnerable.”
She would share her story in case it helped them.
“And it often worked the opposite way,” Velez said. “I would work up the courage from hearing their stories to share mine. Being able to connect, there was a sense of comfort, just knowing someone else is thinking about you and rooting for you.”
Mehta was one of those supporters cheering her along the way.
“I was completely blown away when I heard what she was doing,” he said. “It is incredibly impressive.”
“Any time a child takes on cancer like that is incredible,” he added. “Then to see her do something like this, it’s wonderful. It’s truly above and beyond, and that’s inspiring.”