Diane Saunders and Jeff Brunner ride the Tour de Pier on the “Live Like Bob Saunders” team.
When Diane’s husband, Bob Saunders, no longer had kids of his own to coach in Little League, he connected with Jeff to help him coach. They soon became fast friends, bonding over their passion for youth baseball and inspiring young athletes. They coached Manhattan Beach Little League together and brought home some trophies, but more importantly, they worked to make everybody on the team better.
Bob was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of appendix cancer in 2018. Shortly thereafter, their friend Karen Hunt was diagnosed with cancer and formed a team at the Tour de Pier. Bob started riding in the Tour de Pier that year and was all in to support Karen.
Throughout his 9-month cancer treatment, Bob always found a way to be there for the team, his friends, and his family. He shared about his cancer journey because he knew that others facing cancer needed hope. As Diane says, “Cancer was never the lead story with Bob.” Bob was cancer-free until August 2020, when his cancer returned aggressively.
He loved riding in the Tour de Pier with his friends on Team Hunt and sharing his knowledge with others dealing with a cancer diagnosis. He loved it so much that in September of 2021, too frail to ride, his friends and family wheeled him down to the event in a wheelchair so he could share in the day’s festivities. Sadly, he passed just 15 days later.
After Bob’s passing in 2021, Jeff and Diane founded Bike Bob in his honor. Jeff’s competitive spirit kicked in as he began reaching out to his network. “If I’m going to do this, Bike Bob needs to be on the front page,” he said. Determined, he dug deep into his contacts, sharing Bob’s story and rallying support through donations. The response was overwhelming, with friends, family, and colleagues coming together to contribute. As a result, Bike Bob consistently remained among the top fundraising teams on the Tour de Pier homepage—a powerful tribute to Bob’s legacy and a way for Jeff and Diane to ensure he is never forgotten.
In 2024, as one of the highest fundraising bikes, they rode at Tour de Pier and celebrated Bob together. Diane told us, “We wanted to make sure we honored Bob, and we did it in a way that really made us feel like he was there with us.”