Cyclist battling cancer is helping homeless
BRECKENRIDGE» The 87-mile road to the finish line for this year’s Ride the Rockies did not give riders any kind of break. Winds gusted during the final — and steadily uphill — 20 miles, punctuated by lung-searing climbs.
That challenge seemed small by comparison for Carolyn Milano, 52, who signed up to ride with Team Samaritan House in November to raise money for the Catholic Charities-run program, which provides meals and beds for men, women and families struggling with homelessness.
In January, two months after signing up, doctors diagnosed her with invasive breast cancer. Faced with the choice of chemotherapy and radiation or a double mastectomy, she chose the latter, undergoing the procedure in mid-March. She underwent reconstructive plastic surgery a few weeks later but had complications. Each time she returned from the hospital, she was reminded of how precious being home was.
“A home tells you who you are,” Milano said. “I have all the people I love at home. I have all the things I have that are important to me in my home — pictures of my children, their graduations from high school and college, from when they were a little baby. All the memorabilia, your whole life. Love is at home. I couldn’t imagine not having a home. And there are people who don’t have homes.
“It inspired me even more to get better and (do) Ride the Rockies.”
The need to address homelessness in the state is acute. Homelessness in Colorado jumped 17.4 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development report last year. Over the past two years, Samaritan House has seen a surge in families citing unaffordable rent as the reason for homelessness, and the most dramatic increase in need for their services coming from single women over the age of 55 — those largely on a fixed income.
“We turn away five to 10 families a night because we’re full. They get vouchers to go to hotels,” said Cheryl Talley, the director of communications and marketing for Catholic Charities in Denver.
Milano started participating in Ride the Rockies in 2013. This year, she decided to join the team after last year witnessing the tandem riders of Tom Dea, a co-founder of the team, and Andre van Hall, who is blind. Each rider has to raise $1,500 for Team Samaritan House.
In all, 58 riders — the largest Team Samaritan House contingent ever — rode in this year’s Ride the Rockies, which took cyclists on a 418-mile, six-day loop through Breckenridge, Edwards, Steamboat Springs, Grand Lake, Winter Park and back to Breckenridge, where the route concluded Friday.
So far, Team Samaritan House has raised more than $141,000 of its $250,000 goal, but it will have other rides this year.
The road has not been easy. Milano didn’t start seriously training until May, needing to work up from walking after her surgeries to running and then riding. She even survived a crash on her first day. She bruised her leg and needed bandaging on her shoulder, but she decided to keep going.
“Everyone,” Milano said, “calls me the Timex watch: ‘She takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’.’ ”
After the ride, Milano was making preparations to return to Minneapolis. She has another reconstructive surgery scheduled for Monday, and it’s not going to be her last.
“This ride took my focus off all the uncomfortableness and pain I went through,” Milano said. “I knew there was a great reward at the end.”