MEMPHIS FIT
By Kelsey J. Lawrence Photo by Tindall Stephens
CYCLING COAST 2 COAST 4 CANCER With very limited cycling experience, Keri Blair, 41, decided to go for it. She applied to ride in a 3,000-mile cross-country cycling relay event to honor her late mother, Darlene, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and died just eight months later. Keri remembers that her mother always relied on her faith and was a positive influence in her life, teaching that through valleys and challenges, there is always hope. “That’s the life lesson she taught me— to persevere and make the best out of every situation. My goal is to teach my daughter those things, not through my words but through my actions,” Keri says. To apply for the team, Keri wrote an essay explaining why she wanted to be one of 220 hand-picked Bristol Myers Squibb’s employees to ride in their Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer relay from Cannon Beach, Oregon to Long Branch, New Jersey. “To honor my mom through it all and push myself to do something that makes me uncomfortable,” she said in her essay. “It would also be an honor to show my daughter that legacy through riding and trying to do something different than I’ve ever done.” Keri became a member of an 11-person team, the Breakthrough Riders, that would ride their leg of the race together. Next, Keri had to learn to ride.
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“I had never been on a road bike in my entire life,” she laughs. “I’ll never forget the first time I clipped in [to the pedals], I completely fell over in the yard.”
