Learn more about the origin of Cycle for Survival and how members of the Equinox team are participating this year.
Back in 2007, Equinox member Jennifer Goodman Linn approached the Columbus Circle Club’s management with a compelling idea: to hold a cycling event that raises money for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).
At the time, Linn was a sarcoma patient at the hospital and had already undergone multiple operations for her cancer. Yet, riding a stationary bike in energizing classes gave her a sense of power over her situation, says Monique Dash, who was then the Club’s Group Fitness Manager.
“She loved to take cycling classes, and she said [to me] that as she was going in and out [of the hospital] and getting her treatment…it was the only place where she felt whole — that she still had control over her life and this sarcoma in her stomach,” Dash recalls. “She built such a camaraderie with the people in the classes and the instructors.”
With approval from her general manager, Dash signed off on the event, and Cycle for Survival was born. In its 18-year history, the annual fundraiser has raised more than $364 million to support rare cancer research and clinical trials at MSK. The funds have been used to develop powerful diagnostic tools, novel treatment options, and more.
Ahead, Equinox employees and longtime Cycle for Survival supporters detail Cycle for Survival’s impressive growth, what to expect at the events, and why everyone — no matter their experiences with cancer — should get involved.
The Growth of Cycle for Survival
In preparation for the first Cycle for Survival event, then called Spin4Survival, Dash and the rest of the Columbus Circle team reserved the Club’s 50 bikes for four hours of riding and saved space for stretching and snacking, Dash recalls. Linn secured sponsors, snagged free products to give away, and even had T-shirts and bags made for the ride, she notes. The event was a hit: Though Linn had hoped to raise $10,000, says Dash, they had brought in $250,000 for MSK when all was said and done. “I had no idea she would be such a force of nature,” she says of Linn.
Over the years, Cycle for Survival has exploded in magnitude. Since 2009, the fundraiser has been owned and operated by MSK, with Equinox as the Founding Partner and co-founder David Linn leading the Cycle for Survival community. Events for the fundraiser now take place in 17 locations across the country — in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston, to name a few — and virtually through the Equinox+ app. In 2022 alone, the fundraiser brought in $26 million, every single dollar of which went toward rare cancer research and clinical trials at MSK.
“It definitely got bigger than any one individual,” says Dash, who has remained involved in the fundraiser as a rider or sideline supporter since the inaugural event. “It started out at one Club by a couple who were using their trials to help others, and just [look at] how many lives it's touched now.”
What to Expect at a Cycle for Survival Ride
Each Cycle for Survival event runs for four hours, but how long you cycle is up to you. You can start or join a team, share a bike, and ride relay-style with your teammates throughout the event (an option that has a minimum fundraising requirement of $1,000). On a team of four members, each person might do a 50-minute ride, and teams of up to eight members might switch off mid-session. You can also register as an Extreme Rider, in which you’ll commit to raising $4,000 and cycle the entire event solo. If you’re not an avid cyclist, you can also check out the events in your area and cheer on the participants.
Throughout the four hours, a handful of instructors will ride up on stage, leading participants through one-hour rides or alternating midway through the hour, says Lisa Gagliardi, an event instructor at Equinox Armonk and an Equinox Regional Director of Group Fitness.
No matter how you participate, you can expect your Cycle for Survival ride to have the same energy as a nightclub, says Dash, whose team raised more than $2,000 in 2023. The lights are dimmed, the music is blaring, and people are dancing in between the bikes, she says. “It's not your typical cycle class,” adds Gagliardi. “You’re not looking at your monitor, tracking your miles, and working really hard. It's more about riding with your community, with your team, and with the person next to you. And if you're not a friend when you sit on the bike next to them, you will be by the end of the ride.”
Although the atmosphere is largely positive and celebratory, there are some emotional moments throughout the rides, says Gagliardi, whose team has raised more than $500,000 through fundraising rides and other events since 2014. “We cry, we sing, and we dance,” she says. “We listen to doctors speak about the amazing research the money actually goes toward, to survivors, and to families who unfortunately lost their loved ones to cancer [speak about] how they continue to fight to raise funds for research.”
Why Participate in Cycle for Survival
Many of the riders participating in Cycle for Survival events have a personal connection to the cause, which is the case for Gagliardi, whose mother was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. “She definitely fought a good fight, but we unfortunately lost her during January of this year,” she said in 2023. “So this year, it holds a different place in my heart — to try and stay connected, stay involved, and raise as much money as possible for research.” Ahead the Cycle for Survival Armonk event last April, Gagliardi said she would have her mother “on her back” as she rode on the stage.
Even if you or your loved ones haven’t directly been impacted specifically by rare cancer, it’s worth participating in Cycle for Survival events, says Dash. “Cancer is like this virus — you look left and right, and someone has it,” she says. When MSK makes a breakthrough in the rare cancer field, that information is shared with the broader medical community, helping patients across the globe, she adds. “Working toward a world where there's no cancer keeps me coming back,” says Dash.
The Cycle for Survival rides are also open to all fitness levels and non-members, so people who aren’t cycling class regulars can participate and support the cause. “There's no learning curve with a stationary bike,” says Dash. “You don't have to balance, you don't have to go anywhere, and you don't have to do any of the choreography the teachers do if you don’t want to.”
With the support of the fundraising community, Dash hopes that folks fighting cancer will have the treatment options they need and, one day, there won’t be a need for Cycle for Survival.