10th Tour de Pier reunion pushes Manhattan Beach fundraiser past $10 million

Sarah Jane Hill, Mary Vando, and PK Kessel, of CycleBar in Manhattan Beach, lead the opening session of Tour de Pier 2022. Photo by Kevin Cody
by Kevin Cody

The 10th Annual Manhattan Beach Tour de Pier resembled a reunion of friends as much as a cancer research fundraiser. 

Teams from previous years rode stationary spin cycles, lined up four rows deep in the parking lots on either side of the pier Sunday morning. 

The cycling began at 8 a.m. with Team Kory, Team Talia, and Team Los Angeles County Lifeguards occupying their usual spots just north of the Pier. Joining them was the 10-member Team Urban Community, which flew in from Salt Lake City for the event.

On the south side of the pier, Team Suit Up!, from El Segundo, made its 10th consecutive appearance, dressed, as always, in suits and ties. Joining them, in dress considerably less formal, were the tatted Team Riders for Ronnie motorcyclists, and team Julie’s Angels, in pink tank tops. 

Manhattan Beach resident Jon Hirshberg came up with the idea of the Tour de Pier in 2013, after learning of a national spinning  fundraiser that raised over $3 million in one day. Following the death of his father, Ronald, of pancreatic cancer in 1997, at age 54, Hirshberg and his stepmother Agi subsequently founded the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Research. The foundation has raised over $29 million to fund pancreatic cancer research at UCLA.

Helping Hirshberg establish Tour de Pier was fellow Manhattan Beach resident and cycling enthusiast Heath Gregory, who had participated in a similar spinning fundraiser produced by the Livestrong Foundation in Barcelona during the 2009 Tour de France. Gregory and his wife Mandy founded the Uncle Kory Foundation, following the death of Mandy’s brother in 2013, from Glioblastoma (GBM brain cancer). Their foundation has awarded over $3 million in grants for brain cancer research.

Sunday’s cyclists pushed Tour de Pier’s fundraising total to over $10 million during the past 10 years. Proceeds benefit the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Uncle Kory Foundation, and the Cancer Community South Bay.

Top team fundraisers in Tour de Pier 2022 were Team Kory, $142,036; PK Spin, $44,324; JR286 $35,101; Julie’s Angels, $30,630; and Team Hojo, $25,135.

For more information visit tourdepier.com. ER

 

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