Throughout the Tour de France, Team RadioShack and Lance will honor some of the 28 million people throughout the world affected by cancer.

During the Tour of California, LIVESTRONG sponsored a virtual bike race, the I Ride For…campaign.  Participants rode for friends and loved ones affected by cancer and then collected cheers from supporters.  The names that received the most cheers will appear on Team RadioShack’s bikes throughout the Tour.

We’re enormously grateful to everyone who participated and shared tales of how cancer has touched their lives.

For the next three weeks, as Team RadioShack competes in the Tour de France, each rider’s bike will be outfitted with a sticker bearing the name of someone touched by cancer.  And for each week of the Tour, Lance will carry with him the names of three people who received the most cheers: Nicholas DeSocio, Kathy Beins and Travis Goodman. Their stories – amazing, from the heart and unforgettable – are below.

Christine DeSocio rides for Nicholas DeSocio
On August 2, 1989, Jim and Cheryl DeSocio proudly welcomed their first child, Nicholas James, into the world. He was a happy, healthy baby full of life. Two years later, Nicholas’s sister, Christine, was born and the DeSocio family was complete.

Nicholas was the kind of kid that everyone loved. He had a lot of friends and many interests. Skateboarding was one of them – the one that led to the start of every parent’s worst nightmare. While skateboarding with friends one day, Nicholas fell and hurt his ankle. His parents brought him to the doctor and ironically enough, the doctor was more concerned with how pale Nicholas looked than with his ankle. He ordered blood work on the spot and insisted that Nicholas’s parents have the lab work done right away. On April 30, 2002, Nicholas’s doctor called his parents to reveal devastating news. The results of the blood work showed that Nicholas had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. At the age of twelve, with his family by his side, Nicholas started on a “tough journey”. Within less than 24 hours of hearing the news, he was admitted to the hospital and began cancer treatments that would last 2 ½ years.

He was young and strong and his leukemia went into remission shortly after he started chemo. It was a long, hard 2 ½ years, but Nicholas never complained. He beat the cancer and came out of the experience a stronger young man, ready to make the most out of his life. He had an infectious smile and an upbeat attitude that was never ending.

Nicholas gave up skateboarding and became an avid outdoorsman. Hunting, fishing and golfing were among his favorites, but snow cross racing was his passion. He raced in the Rock Maple Racing circuit and after years of practicing and dreaming about being the best, he won the championship. A very humble young man, Nicholas was the number one snow cross racer in the North East.

Nicholas graduated from high school and went on to a local Community College. He wanted to live at home so that he could continue racing. He qualified for the X Games but never got the chance to race. In the summer of 2007, Nicholas got the shingles. One illness lead to another and after having been in remission for almost 6 years, the doctors discovered that his Leukemia was back.

Nicholas started two more years of horrific treatments, knowing how difficult the days ahead would be. Yet, as always, he remained strong and positive. He “Lived Strong” (Lance Armstrong would be proud).

The Christmas of 2009 was a celebration. Nicholas finished his treatments and was in full remission. He had his sights on hunting, fishing and golfing. He had put snow cross racing behind him and was satisfied to just ride snowmobiles with friends.

After an annual family vacation to Florida to see grandma and grandpa, Nicholas went back to work at his parents restaurant. He was saving his money so that he could build a house and start a family, with his girlfriend, Kristie. He had beaten the cancer once again and was ready to move on with life. It just wasn’t in the plan.

Just before Easter, 2010 Nicholas started having back pain. His doctors thought it may have been muscular related, but tests confirmed that the Leukemia was back with a vengeance. In order to survive this time, he needed a bone marrow transplant.This is when his family learned about “Be the Match”, the National Bone Marrow Donor Program. Through the registry, nine possible matches with three being very likely were found for Nicholas. His future looked promising. Sadly, the cancer took over two short weeks after his third re-occurrence and Nicholas passed away before he was able to receive a transplant.

Steve Mrha rides for Kathy Beins
“My most recent connection with cancer is praying for a past co-worker (Kathy) of 17 years as she has been battling for her life in the fight against cancer for the past 14 months. Kathy is a wife, mother and one of the most well liked professionals in the animal health industry. Yesterday, Kathy’s husband John received news that they had hoped to never hear. Kathy’s disease in now incurable. The chemo she received eight days ago was the strongest dose she had ever had. While it did create many expected side effects, it did not apparently have any influence on the tumors growing in her abdomen. They continue to grow and grow rapidly. These tumors are spreading to other organs and they are the cause of her pain and other issues. Kathy was put back in the hospital since last Friday. She has had five pints of blood and two units of platelets since Saturday to try to bring her blood parameters back up to a level where additional chemotherapy could be prescribed. Kathy’s doctors do not believe suitable parameters will be re-established. If they can be, Kathy has asked to be treated again in an attempt to shrink the tumors. Her doctors are searching for alternative chemotherapy options should additional therapy become possible. Additional surgery and radiation are not options available to them any longer. Kathy is on heavy medication to relieve her pain, and anti-nausea drugs to provide comfort. John hopes to be able to bring Kathy home today or tomorrow to begin hospice care as her medications can be administered at home. Kathy wishes to be home so they can have family and friends visit. Kathy has shown us all her amazing strength and she maintains her strong faith. She continues to battle, even after 14 months, for her daughter Olivia and her husband John, and all of her other many loved ones.

I would like to thank the LAF and RadioShack for developing the virtual bike campaign. The timing was perfect. The Kathy Beins virtual bike allowed her family and friends to visually express to Kathy that she was in their thoughts and prayers every day. We all know Kathy is a fighter, but this campaign allowed us to show her that she has a large number of supports in her corner to win this fight. Best regards, Steve Mrha”

Christin Goodman rides for Travis P. Goodman
“Travis was my husband who passed away from melanoma 3 weeks ago today actually. He was 32 years old, an avid cyclist and outdoorsman, worked for Trek Bicycles, and was probably one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He truly showed the rest of us how battling melanoma was supposed to be done. —Christin Goodman”

The other Team RadioShack riders will honor the following people on their bikes throughout the Tour de France:

Lourdes Nachon rides for Mercedes Garcia De Nachon
Denny Cloud rides for Erin Cloud Scott
Jaclyn Buseck rides for Michael Buseck
Robert Ward rides for Collin Marsh
David Vernon rides for Euan Smylie
Liz M rides for Nick
Dan Orlinski rides for my sister Denise Devine
Angie Cagle rides for Jackie Leonard
Gina Wilk rides for Matthew Wilk
Rosanne Chiodi rides for Anthony Chiodi
Liam McCoy rides for Krissy Thomas
Rick Berg rides for Ken Gehle
Erik Pearson rides for Ed Pearson
Rich Palmer rides for Ralph Horner
Henrike Hirsch rides for Jenny & Shorty
Tammy Coppedge rides for Brittany Coppedge
Richard Cox rides for My mom and Steve Oldenstadt
Kelly Brown rides for Carol Sullivan
Brandy Chandler rides for My Sister Lori
Ben Collins rides for Connie Collins
Andrea Wilson rides for my daughter Eleanor
Paul Hein rides for Noah Hein
Kim Piskorowski rides for Kevin Hartmann
Lloyd Hamilton rides for Sebastian Hamilton