BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Between March 8 and 9, more than 1,200 people will be channeling their energy and braving the cold to raise money for cancer research.
Abby Militello will be one of those people. She’s riding in this year’s Ice Cycle event at Buffalo Riverworks.
“The event itself felt quintessentially Buffalo,” she said. “To most people [it’s] not great weather conditions, but here we are making lemonade out of lemons and doing something together as a community in my opinion for the worthiest of causes.”
For the last few years Militello has cycled in honor of her father-in-law, who was battling cancer and receiving treatment at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“We were feeling helpless, for a lack of better terms, there’s only so much you could do aside from being a comfort and loving up your loved ones who are battling cancer,” she said.
Since 2021, the ice cycle community, including more than a dozen fitness studios, have helped raise more than $1.4 million for cancer research and patient care programs at Roswell Park.
“Everybody I know, knows someone who’s battling cancer and trying to figure out how to put their emotions somewhere, put their money somewhere. Put their efforts somewhere positive where they feel like they’re doing something,” she said.
Militello’s father-in-law passed in 2023. Instead of riding in his honor, this year, with the community’s support, she will ride in his memory.
“Being on the bike and being surrounded by this community that’s enormous and all of us kinda coming together for the same reason, is just overwhelmingly positive and motivating and it was something I didn’t want to let go of,” she said.
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