From Owings Mills area to Florida Keys to raise money to combat cancer in young adults

In September 2014, avid cyclist Dan Healy participated in the Ride to Conquer Cancer aiding Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Sibley Memorial and Suburban hospitals.For that two-day, 150-mile ride, Healy raised $2,500 for the Kimmel Cancer Center, boosted by a benefit dinner by the Reisterstown Seventh-day Adventist church he attends.Little did the then-Owings Mills resident know when he signed up for the event, that the disease would strike a former colleague, Michael Szalay, who died of brain cancer at age 27.&quot;The seriousness of cancer became very real,&quot; Healy said on his website, bikingbeatscancer.org. &quot;I had known that my friend was diagnosed, but I was under the impression that he was winning the battle. With very short notice, less than 24 hours, I was informed that he was in fact losing the battle very quickly. I didn't even get a chance to have one last phone call with him.&quot;It was that experience that motivated Healy to do even more to help cancer sufferers and their families, including April's Key to Keys event — a group ride from Baltimore's Key Highway to the Florida Keys — that raised funds for the Baltimore-based Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.That organization was founded by Howard County native Doug Ulman following his cancer diagnosis in the fall of 1996 as a student at Brown University. Ulman, then 19, and currently cancer-free, formed the nonprofit after learning firsthand about the difficulty young adults face in obtaining proper information and support programs regarding nutrition, physical activity, relationships and dating, and how best to return to other normal activities.According to the Ulman Cancer Fund, nearly 70,000 people between the ages of 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the United States each year, making young adults eight times more likely to receive a diagnosis between those ages than during the first 15 years of life.It's numbers like those that prompted Healy, 31, to act.The Johns Hopkins Hospital information technology engineer had to up his game to participate in the Key to Keys, in terms of both fundraising and physical stamina.His portion of the ride was 400 miles, which he traversed in eight days at a 17-mph rate.&quot;It was an intense pace,&quot; Healy said. &quot;It wasn't just a casual bike ride. I felt confident that I could do it, but it was, by far, the most intense ride I've ever taken. Still, I think I was able to enjoy the ride more than the others because of all the training I had. I was rewarded for all the time I had put in.&quot;Healy raised $4,500 to participate, using his website to solicit and record contributions.In all, the group raised $150,000 this year for the event, according to Brian Satola, Ulman Cancer Fund's chief operating officer. He added that Key to Keys, which just completed it fourth year, has brought in $500,000.Healy said that his website served as an advertising platform to raise money.&quot;Only 10 to 15 percent of the donations came in randomly through the website,&quot; he said. &quot;I still had to make a ton of phone calls to people. It took a good six months to raise the money.&quot;The Ulman Cancer Fund mission statement for the Keys to Keys program states, &quot;Using cycling as a platform, Key to Keys participants come together throughout the journey to share their individual cancer connections and give out as much support to others as they are receiving. The team also visits cancer centers and communities to connect young adults and their loved ones to our organization.&quot;That emotional feeling for the cause and for fellow participants made the ride an enjoyable one for Tiffany Batac, who shared a couple of training rides with Healy prior to joining him on the Key to Keys event.&quot;The ride was more mental and emotional rather than physical,&quot; said Batac, 32, a Washington-area transportation consultant. &quot;You spend eight days getting to know people who have a connection to cancer. It took the experience to a different level.&quot;After the ride started with the participants confronting snow, sleet and a cold rain as the left Charm City, the finish in sunny Florida was surreal, Batac said.&quot;I couldn't believe that we had done that,&quot; she added. &quot;It was really sad leaving.&quot;Satola, who also went on the excursion, has a unique way of describing Key to Keys.Students with the Catonsville Center for Alternative Studies complete their unit on biking with a 12-mile trip around the BWI Loop Trail. (Lauren Loricchio/Baltimore Sun video)&quot;I define it as a mobile support group,&quot; he said. &quot;It's a way for (cancer) survivors and caregivers to bond and focus on each other while they're unplugged. Dan was fully engaged with the other people. It was fun to watch him connect with them. Dan has an extraordinary amount of energy. But even with all that energy, he was able to be quiet and listen to others. He has a huge heart. He lifted a lot of people up and took them under his wing during the ride.&quot;Healy was a perfect fit for the nonprofit's goals.&quot;I love to ride long distances and bike hard,&quot; he said. &quot;So, it was a challenge that I was up for.&quot;A typical training ride for Healy is to bike to Annapolis, and, sometimes, pedal on to Washington, D.C. From there, he takes a MARC train back to Baltimore.He averaged 100 miles per week in the run-up to the Key to Keys, noting that the importance of a daily ride trumped the total number of miles he completed.&quot;Being on a bike that often takes a toll on the body,&quot; he said. &quot;You have to condition your body to get used to it.&quot;He said there is always concern when riding on public streets and highways, but feels that bike safety has improved since the death of Thomas Palermo, a Towson resident who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in December 2014 on Roland Avenue. That incident, he said, amped up public awareness of biker safety.&quot;I try to stay on less-congested roads and in dedicated bike lanes,&quot; he said. &quot;As a bicyclist, you have to learn to deal with motorists. I give them a 'thumbs-up' and a smile. I've never had any problem (with motorists).&quot;

From Owings Mills area to Florida Keys to raise money to combat cancer in young adults

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