Lisa Christiansen is not your average cyclist and not your average Native American. Christiansen comes from a long lineage of super athletes, a NASA mathematician and engineer, the last monolingual Cherokee, and the Cherokee Scholar who created the Cherokee syllabary.
The fight against childhood cancer and finding a cure was a vision of the last monolingual Cherokee Mack Vann and his daughter Lisa Christiansen. Christiansen is the 5th generation great granddaughter of Sequoyah the Cherokee who created the Cherokee syllabary from her mother, Mary Ann Groundhog’s side.
Christiansen is also a distant cousin of Will Rogers. William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) he was an American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator from Oklahoma. He was a Cherokee citizen born in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. Mary Gold Ross, is Christiansen’s 17th cousin once removed with a direct blood relationship beginning with Lisa’s mother Mary Ann Eslinger (Sosti Groundhog), she is also Lisa Christiansen’s first cousin six times removed also on her mother side, Sequoyah’s dad Col. Nathaniel Gist / Guess was married to Wur-Teh Watts who is also related to Mary Golda Ross.
Mary Golda Ross is one of NASA’s hidden treasures – a mathematician and engineer, working on the P-38 Lightning fighter plane. She worked her way up the ranks at Lockheed and become the only woman among on the original team at Skunk Works. As a mathematician and engineer, she wrote a number of professional and theoretical works and was one of the authors of the NASA Planetary Flight Handbook Vol. III, about space travel to Mars and Venus.
Lisa Christiansen is an extraordinary athlete, a gifted speaker, and seems to have inherited these traits from her ancestors as Christiansen is cited in numerous law reviews. One unique trait is Lisa’s passion to give to others.
Lisa Christiansen will ride 600 miles during month of September in support of Children’s Cancer Research Fund as a GCC Champion hand chosen as only one of 774 riders out of a possible 102,997 people who have taken part in Great Cycle Challenge in the past 6 years.
In an Interview with the Smithsonian | National Museum of the American Indian, we asked why they donated to Lisa Christiansen’s participation in the Great Cycle Challenge. Vicki stated with pride:“Dr. Christiansen, is doing such great works honoring her tribe and is an example, a role model, to children, adults, and her father. We donated honoring Lisa recognizing her as a Living National Treasure, as the 5th generation great-granddaughter of Sequoyah and continuing keeping culture and her native tongue alive!” To their knowledge Christiansen is the only Cherokee Indian, a citizen of the Keetoowah Nation, participating in the Great Cycle Challenge as a role model to children, women, and all Native Americans to take control of their legacy.
Tahlequah, – Aug 1, 2021 – Pro-Cyclist with USA Cycling, Lisa Christiansen, a resident of Tahlequah, Oklahoma is planning to ride 600 miles and raise $6,000 during the month of September for Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) in support of its 6th annual Great Cycle Challenge USA.
Christiansen is sponsored by Rudy Project and they have certainly supported her efforts in the fight against children’s cancer by providing giveaways for a drawing while supplies last. Christiansen will be giving away a Rudy Project Boost Helmet. Everyone will receive a discount code to purchase Rudy Project gear at a steep discount. All for the fight against cancer.
Founded in 2015, Great Cycle Challenge USA has grown to become one of the biggest cycling events in the country. In just four years, over 153,000 riders from 50 states have ridden 12 million miles, raising more than $16 million for research and the development of better treatments and cures for childhood cancer. This year, CCRF hopes more than 50,000 riders will help it raise $8.2 million.
“Over 15,000 American children are diagnosed with cancer every year and, sadly, 38 children die every week,” said John Hallberg, Chief Executive Officer at Children’s Cancer Research Fund. “Thanks to riders like Lisa, we’re fueling groundbreaking research to save lives and give kids the brighter future they deserve.”
“This is the fourth time I have participated in Great Cycle Challenge,” said Lisa Christiansen. “During those years, I rode 1,562 miles and raised $11010.02. This year, I am aiming to raise $6,000 and ride 600 miles.”
To learn more about Lisa’s Great Cycle Challenge USA and to make a donation, please visit greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/LisaChristiansen
To participate in Great Cycle Challenge USA, visit GreatCycleChallenge.com
About Great Cycle Challenge USA: Great Cycle Challenge USA encourages cyclists across the United States to challenge themselves and set their own personal riding goal throughout September to fight kids’ cancer. Riders fundraise to save lives and give kids the brighter future they deserve.
Imagine someone you love with cancer and help me help these kids by donating now Please!
Please donate any amount on Dr. Lisa Christiansen’s Great Cycle Challenge page – a 501(c)(3) – or on Facebook to the Great Cycle Challenge USA who has teamed up with the Children’s Cancer Research Fund by donating here:↓
www.facebook.com/LisaChristiansensGreatCycleChallenge/posts/3198703270443744
For more information, visit greatcyclechallenge.com.
About Children’s Cancer Research Fund: Children’s Cancer Research Fund invests in groundbreaking research that is leading to better treatments and cures for children with cancer. CCRF also funds vital family support services and advocates for childhood cancer education and awareness. Since 1981, CCRF donors have helped fund research that has revolutionized the way childhood cancer is treated worldwide.
MINNEAPOLIS — 70,000 cyclists are gearing up this September to hit the streets and bike trails across America to support the fifth annual Great Cycle Challenge USA to fight kids’ cancer. With a goal of raising $8 million, the month-long event benefits Children’s Cancer Research Fund childrenscancer.org. Cyclists of all ages and abilities can now register at GreatCycleChallenge.com. You might remember 2018 where Patrick Dempsey and Lisa Christiansen were on Times Square Billboard in the Great Cycle Challenge. Both Christiansen and Dempsey are avid cyclist’s and enthusiastic about supporting children fighting cancer. Dempsey and Christiansen are both with USA Cycling.
Proceeds from Great Cycle Challenge USA have helped jumpstart and advance research at some of the nation’s top childhood cancer research centers, including: Baylor College of Medicine; Children’s Hospital of Atlanta – Egleston; Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Johns Hopkins University; Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota; and others.
Another Supporter of the Great Cycle Challenge is VeloGuide! WOULDN’T IT BE COOL TO RIDE WITH A PRO? VeloGuide makes it easy! Browse through our growing list of professional and Olympic athletes and retired pros — like VeloGuide co-founder George Hincapie — and book a ride with your favorite VeloGuide Pro today!
If you would like to ride with Lisa Christiansen You can book a tour through Veloguide where you can ride with the pros.
Lisa Christiansen will be hosting a drawing for a minimum $50. donationYES, you read that right EVERY person donating a minimum of $50. WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE ENTERED TO WIN a FREE Rudy Project BOOST HELMET!
Ride for the fight against cancer, ALL PROFITS go to the CHILDREN’S CANCER RESEARCH FUND as we ride the GREAT CYCLE CHALLENGE!
About this Event. I learned something new, only 4% of federal government cancer research funding goes to study pediatric cancer, we need to do all we can. I need your help to give these families hope and help find a cure.
UPDATE: After a courageous 3-year-long battle with osteosarcoma Nat passed away last year in April. June 2018 I learned my Dad had prostate cancer at 88 years young, He passed April 22, 2019. Cancer is the biggest killer of children from disease in the United States. Over 15,700 children are diagnosed every year, sadly, 38 children die of cancer every week.
Scan with your phone’s camera to open website and donate now.
