GRAND RAPIDS, Mich- 1,500 cyclists rode through West Michigan Saturday Morning in the inaugural Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Gran Fondo. Gran Fondo means “Big Ride” in Italian. The event has drawn cyclists from states as far away as Oregon.
Starting and finishing at the B.O.B. in downtown Grand Rapids, the MSU Gran Fondo follows scenic, West Michigan courses, offering 12, 40, and 80-mile loops for riders of all skill levels. The shortest loop turns at Millennium Park, while the longest ride leads to Lake Michigan, turning at Ferrysburg (near Grand Haven).
The ride is a fundraiser for MSU’s skin cancer research. These dollars will fund pilot studies – investigative, next-step research that tests findings and enables a scientific study to continue. For MSU scientists, that means exploring new approaches to overcoming drug resistance that is all too common in patients receiving treatment for advanced stages of melanoma, the deadliest form of cancer.
