WhiIe I was preparing for my virtual make up ride for Pelotonia last year, I got a front row seat to what happens when someone close to my family was diagnosed with cancer. Last summer, a co-worker and close friend of my mother was diagnosed with tongue cancer, resulting in the removal of her tongue and a nasty looking radiation burn on the side of her neck. My mom's role was to help her get between Columbus and Cincinnati for treatment, and caused my mom a lot of stress. It wasn't until my mom and I visited her friend in the hospital last November that I saw what a fight against cancer can do to someone. While I was in that hospital room, I pulled out my phone, opened the notes app, and asked myself one very important question: Why Do I Ride Pelotonia?

The answers became clear in the days following that hospital visit, as I realized that my fundraising for this event has helped developed less invasive cancer treatments (such as immuno-oncology), giving researchers the tools that they need to develop said treatments, and my goal for this year, making sure that caregivers for cancer patients have the support they need because at the end of the day, no one should ever have to fight cancer alone.

That hospital trip last November also prompted me to make some changes to how my Pelotonia campaigns run moving forward. This year, my objective is to hit my fundraising target by ride weekend, and to set a personal fundraising record in the process. The single challenger series has been broken up into three events, with a goal or two per week during those periods. The Launch Challenger Series is now in progress until May 1, when my focus will turn exclusively to on bike training through ride weekend. Speaking of ride weekend, I will be back in New Albany on August 2 to ride the 27 mile route. I am going to volunteer on both Friday and Saturday downtown, and potentially will volunteer at the Pelotonia Kids event in Hilliard on July 11. I will reveal my plans for post ride weekend at a later date.

100% all funds raised by my participation in this event will go towards the fight against cancer at The James at Ohio State (and other cancer research intiatives throughout Ohio.) Last year, me and my fellow participants raised over $29.2 million towards that goal, and almost $300 million since this event's inception. You can follow along with my training, challenger goals and other updates at my blog, on Instagram and on this page. I am also encouraging everyone to share my posts over on social media to help spread the word about my fundraising efforts, because with a little bit of help and a lot effort, there are NO LIMITS to what we can accomplish.