One of her Orthodox Jewish friends wrote: “Since my parents live in Manhattan, I always stay in the city for all the holidays. While many people go home for the first days of Pesach [Passover], many people stay for the second days. While I might receive many invitations for meals for the second days, I have to admit Nancy was the only person in whose home I would eat during Pesach. She was not only strict but also knowledgeable about all of the halachos [religious laws] for Pesach. I was always moved by her dedication to halacha.”

A cyclist wrote: “One of the things that I remember most about Nancy was her passion for travel and her commitment to Judaism. I was always very jealous when Nancy headed out for one of her Aspen ski trips. I used to consider a career in travel hoping it would get me out of town as much as Nancy got out of town. I also remember that I would never see Nancy on Saturdays. As a non-Jew it struck me as odd that she could maintain such a serious training schedule and manage to observe the Sabbath. But she did.”

For some of us, following a traditional lifestyle is dictated more by our social and family relationships than by true commitment to those beliefs. We all know how easily standards slacken once people are separated from their usual surroundings. But not Nancy. Her commitment was unwavering, whether she was in the friendly confines of Manhattan’s West Side, the mountains of Colorado, the deserts of Utah, or the tundra of Alaska.

On her bike trip through Utah and Arizona, Nancy brought along a cache of kosher food and some pots and pans. On Saturday, she stayed in camp and caught up with the group on Sunday. Needless to say, the guides had never encountered a kosher cyclist, and they were amazed at Nancy’s determination to stay in place over the Sabbath and to make her own food with the pots she had brought. They were also astounded by her perseverance in keeping up with riders who were much more seasoned than she. In fact, one guide told me that she was the only biker to travel the entire 110 miles from Bryce Canyon, Utah, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in one day. She insisted on completing the trip even after darkness fell, with the guide lighting her way with his headlights.

“Nancy always worked harder than everyone else because she was a kosher racer,” said a woman who was once her teammate. “It’s hard to arrange bike racing around the Jewish Sabbath rules, but Nancy always did. Her commitment to her faith never ceased to amaze me. At first I was puzzled. Why did she not turn the TV on some mornings when I knew she liked hearing the weather first thing? What would happen if she was in a car on Friday after sunset? What was the deal with money on Saturdays? I didn’t understand at first, but gradually I saw more and began to understand and appreciate the beauty of her Sabbath.”