RALEIGH, N.C. — Fran Powell has overcome cancer not once, not twice, but three times. 

She lost a niece to the disease a year ago.

What You Need To Know

  • Fran Powell is a three-time cancer survivor

  • She rides every year in the V Foundation's Victory Ride and is participating in the event Saturday

  • Powell last month learned from her medical team she was cancer free

For the third year in a row, Spectrum News 1 joined her on the trailhead as she prepared for the Victory Ride to Cure Cancer. The yearly event by the V Foundation begin in 2018.

The survivor is adding a new wrinkle to her story. Nothing tops the feeling of tires humming over asphalt for Powell in any condition outdoors.

“This is very exciting,” Powell said.

With her electrically powered wheels, she feels she is gliding on air.

“I feel like this bike gives me wings because it’s an e-bike,” Powell said.

The ongoing effects of endometrial cancer made riding a traditional bicycle uphill unrealistic, but the disease no longer has a grip on her life. 

“I want them to see that this is the face of cancer. That cancer is no longer the death sentence that it was so many years ago,” Powell said.

That’s because for the first time in a long time, Powell can proudly say she is cancer free. Powell said her medical team gave her the news last month.

“I almost didn’t believe them,” she said.

The original diagnosis came in 2010. Chemotherapy and radiation followed the diagnosis. Then a second round of treatments did as well, as the endometrial cancer spread from her uterus to her lungs in 2015.

“When they told me there was no evidence of disease I actually had a hard time believing it, but they assured me it is true,” Powell said.

The cancer warrior has longed for the day when the illness is no longer in her body. Powell said her oncologist prescribed her oral hormone therapy when the disease returned a third time in 2017. The daily regimen of pills replaced chemotherapy and radiation.

“What a blessing it has been to be able to take this medication that is just pills and to be able to be out here enjoying nature and doing things that everyone else does,” she said.

Cancer doesn’t always come with a happy ending. Powell’s niece Kelly Richards died from pancreatic cancer in fall 2021. A teammate in her riding group, Biker Chicks and Friends, lost a daughter to lung cancer during the leadup to this race.

The weight of those gone and the ones who remain are in her heart, which is why she keeps pedaling for a cure. 

Echoing Jim Valvano, the N.C. State coach whose speech at the 1993 ESPY’s lives on after his death, the 68-year-old cyclist said this: “Don’t ever give up hope, don’t ever give up faith because someone like me it took six years for the cancer to go away." 

Bikers who participate will ride in either the 10-, 30- or 60-mile option Saturday. Others are riding virtually.

Powell’s group established a goal of raising $15,000 for this year’s event. They have eclipsed the $30,000 mark as of a day before the race.