Mark Dinkins loved riding bikes as a kid. Even flipping over the handlebars headfirst when the front wheel came off once could not scare him away from it, he says.
Dinkins believes biking teaches a lesson in handling adversity: When we fall off – or flip over – we get back on and keep going. He says this has helped him in his own struggles with anxiety and depression, and now he hopes it will aid in the fight against breast cancer. Dinkins, along with David Cox, Doug Sellars and Judy Stutes, formed Team Enso Cycling to participate in the ultra-endurance biking competition Race Across America (RAAM) in June 2021.
To make RAAM even more meaningful, Team Enso used it as a platform to raise money for causes close to their hearts.
For Dinkins, that cause was the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the OSUCCC – James. “I’m the spouse of a breast cancer survivor and the son and nephew of two amazing women who lost their battles to breast cancer,” Dinkins says. “Stefanie was also a classmate of mine since the first grade. “She never asked, ‘Why me?’ Instead, she found purpose.
”Dinkins’ purpose as part of Team Enso – which means “circle” in Japanese – was to raise $25,000 for the Spielman Fund while participating in RAAM. Billed as “the world’s toughest bicycle race,” RAAM challenged Dinkins and his team to bike over 3,000 miles covering 12 states in just nine days.
“To put it in perspective, the 2020 Tour de France covered 2,165 miles and 156,398 feet of climbing in 23 days,” Dinkins explains. Despite record-high June temperatures and sleep deprivation, Team Enso completed RAAM in only six days, 20 hours and 31 minutes.
Along the way, Dinkins surpassed his own goals and raised $26,450 for the Spielman Fund. “We wanted RAAM to be more than a race – we wanted to help people who are facing challenges greater than most of us may ever face, so I am so grateful for everyone’s support,” he says. “Adversity affects all of us, but it’s our response that defines us.”