When Oslo native Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen lost her daughter Esther to cancer, her world came to a standstill. But through Team Rynkeby, she found meaning again, hope and a community that gives her the strength to keep fighting, both for herself and for others.
The lifeblood of Team Rynkeby is its passionate volunteers.
And if they were to be encapsulated and personified in a single image, it could very well be that of the dark-haired Norwegian woman Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen from Oslo.
Behind her broad smile, she lives Team Rynkeby's values of doing something good for herself, doing something good for others and being part of a committed community. And year after year, she has worked actively and tirelessly for both the community – and herself – and to raise funds for children with critical illnesses.
However, Maria's story is also one of motivation rooted in the ultimate loss.
When grief meets community
In 2016, the 50-year-old mother and environmental therapist had her life and that of her family turned upside down when she lost her daughter, Esther, to cancer. Esther was only seven years old.
”I was completely devastated when I lost Esther,” Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen says today.
”Everything lost its meaning. I knew I needed something that could give me strength and hope again so that I could live with my grief.”
Two years after Esther's death, Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen heard about Team Rynkeby through a community for parents who had lost a child, of which she was a member.
”Some of the parents were part of this cycling community, but I understood right away that this was about more than cycling. It was about fighting for something bigger – for children like my Esther,” she says.
In 2018, Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen donned the yellow jersey for the first time and found the community she had been searching for. It was the start of a journey that not only strengthened her physically and mentally but also gave her a new family who treated her as an equal.
Once Team Rynkeby, always Team Rynkeby
For Maria, Team Rynkeby is ‘driven by love, energy and a common goal’. Here, she cycled alongside other parents who had experienced the loss of a child, and this created a unique sense of unity and connection.
”When we're on our bikes, we're all in the same situation. We have the same goal and help each other along the way. There is so much love between us,” she says.
She describes Team Rynkeby as a box that you can open and then joy spills out; a place where people come together around a shared hope and a shared mission.
”It's not just cycling. It's being together for something that matters. It's an energy you can't find anywhere else,” says Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen.
Just one year ago, she had to sit out due to a broken collarbone. But otherwise, she has been an integral part of Team Rynkeby since 2018, when she clicked into the pedals for the first time.
”Once you've been part of Team Rynkeby, there's no turning back. You're kind of stuck,” she laughs and continues:
”It's like family. Leaving it would feel like leaving a part of yourself behind. Once Team Rynkeby, always Team Rynkeby.”
I believe that together we can be something far greater than ourselves.
For Esther and for the children
Of course, Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen is cycling for Esther. But it's about more than that, she emphasises. It's about all the children who are battling illness today. When Esther died, the ‘right’ medicine did not exist, and Maria Teresa Contreras Halvorsen has a special desire to contribute to the development of that medicine.
"My goal is for all children with cancer to survive. That's why I cycle to support research, so that there is a treatment for every single child who gets cancer," she says.
Among other things, she has participated in the Norwegian NRK TV fundraiser for the Children's Cancer House, where she was interviewed by Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway. A moment she will never forget.
”It was huge. But the most important thing was that I could talk about Esther and show why we are fighting. For the children and for hope.”
When hope becomes the driving force
When Maria talks about Team Rynkeby, it is with gratitude and a warm smile. For her, it is not just about raising money but about bringing people together around a shared hope.
”I believe that together we can be something far greater than ourselves. It gives me meaning, joy and the belief that we can make a difference,” she says.
She knows that the grief will never go away. But through community, love and fighting for the children, she has found meaning and a way forward.
”Team Rynkeby has given me strength, friends and faith in life again. I cycle for Esther and for all children who deserve a future full of hope.”
This story is one of 10 gathered to mark Team Rynkeby’s 25th anniversary — stories about people who have helped shape our journey. Those who fight for others. Those who’ve received help. And those we’ve lost along the way.
