For Dad, Pop, Jake, Dick, Ruthie…the list is too long

I lost my dad to cancer in 2005.  That was the last straw!  At that point I decided I needed to do something other than watching people I loved die or suffer from the horrible disease we call cancer.  At that point I decided I was going to something.  I started running and riding a bike.  I found out about a local charity ride for cancer research put on by the Palmetto Peloton Project.  I raised some money and did my first metric century.  It has mushroomed from there.  The following year I decided I wanted to do more.  I was the second highest fundraiser and was awarded a trip to Austin, TX to participate in the LIVEStrong Challenge.  That was a life changing event for me.  Jennifer and I met so many incredible folks from all over the country that were battling cancer, in remission or have lost a loved one.  We continue to stay in touch with several of them and will be reunited with some of them when we get down to Austin.  I am not a very emotional person but while in Austin I would wake up crying not because I was sad but I was amazed at the courage and the strength everyone we met was displaying.   My father was the same way.

While in Austin we met several people who rode their bicycles from Calgary to Austin to raise money for a local cancer research hospital in Calgary.  After speaking to them I thought it would be something we could do from Greenville.  I ran it by Kevin and he said run with it so I did.  Here we are 5 days away from riding to Austin the money has been raised and the training is done.  There have been times I have lost focus to why I am doing this ride but then I hear a song or hear of another person who is suffering from cancer and it reminds me why I am doing this.  The reason is, I do not want to add anymore names to my already long list of people I know who have suffered because of cancer.