Three Decades of Riding for Kids
May 5, 2023
“When I think of the mountains these kids have to climb every day, the challenge of riding the Courage Classic is easy.”
This year marks the 34th year of the Courage Classic. Jane Freeman, a former nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital Colorado, has been at every single cycling tour. She belongs to a very special group of Courage Classic riders, called Founders, who have participated in every tour since the event’s inception.
In 1989, she started at Children’s Colorado as a nurse specializing in surgery in the Neuroscience Institute. By the time she retired in June 2020, she was a nurse practitioner in the Neurosurgery Department. One of Freeman’s favorite parts about the Courage Classic is seeing all the families and patients, including the kids – some now adults – that she cared for during her career.
“I have always been totally invested in helping these children,” said Freeman.
As a self-proclaimed “fair weather cyclist,” Freeman says the Courage Classic is challenging, “but when I think of the mountains these kids have to climb every day, the challenge of riding the Courage Classic is easy.”
Freeman has always felt immense pride in being a team member at Children’s Colorado and even came out of retirement to help with the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 2021. She continues to volunteer every week at the Child Health Clinic.