Ridin' for a reason

Lance Armstrong is a cancer survivor and now is a six-time winner of the Tour de France. In him, cancer patients can find an inspiration. Margaret Volz isn't exactly Lance Armstrong, but she is a cycling inspiration to many patients and their families.

Starting next month, Volz is riding in the Five Points of Life Ride, a bicycle event that takes riders from Seattle to Florida. The ride is held every two years to raise awareness for five life-saving donations -- blood, apheresis, bone marrow, cord blood and organs and tissues.

"It's going to be a fantastic experience," said Volz, a pediatric nurse practitioner at The Children's Place. "I'm looking forward to the ride itself, and also because of the message."

All 15 riders in the event have a personal connection to the life-saving donation process, whether it be as a survivor, as a donor or as a family member.

Volz' connection dates back to 1985.

"At the time, I was working as a pediatric oncology nurse, and I knew professionally how important it was for people to be registered on the bone marrow registry, and I was registered myself. I was on the list for two years when I found out I was a match for a 14-year-old boy," Volz said. "It was the first unrelated marrow donation in Minnesota."

Since she is on the national bone marrow registry, Volz receives the quarterly newsletter, which she said she normally reads and tosses. Recently, one article made her take a second look, however. In the newsletter there was an article about the Five Points of Life Ride, and noted that there was a woman from Anchorage who participated in it. It got Volz thinking about the event. She applied, and was chosen to participate.

Then, the training began. Volz said she has been riding 30 to 60 miles a day to tune up for the grueling six-week event.

"Some days I think, 'Can I really do 75 to 100 miles a day?'" Volz said. "I'm trying to build up to that point."

Volz has participated in several triathlons, and she recently competed in the Fireweed 400 bike race, although she said using the word "competed" isn't exactly the best way to describe her performance.

"I wanted to see what it felt like to ride that much, and I ended up having three flat tires. I ended up an hour and a half behind the leaders, but I finished," Volz said with a chuckle. "I didn't give up.

"I feel real fortunate to be almost 50 and still be very healthy and be able to do this," Volz said.

Three support vehicles follow the riders along the route, helping the riders with any needs they may encounter along the way.

Each rider has to come up with $5,000 in contributions, but more than being a fund-raising event, the Five Points of Life Ride is more geared toward raising awareness.

"There are about 50 speaking engagements at different locations along the ride," Volz said.

Among those 50 events are nine at state capitol locations.

In addition to being a bone marrow donor, Volz has donated apheresis and is a frequent donor at the Blood Bank of Alaska.

People interested in donating to the Five Points of Life Ride can do so by mailing a check made payable to LifeSouth Community Blood Centers to Marg Volz, P.O. Box 872539, Wasilla, AK 99687. A receipt will be sent for tax records.

The event is a program of the LifeSouth Community Blood Centers.

For more information about the organization, interested people can visit the LifeSouth Web site at www.lifesouth.org.