The reason I’m raising money.

Below is the Facebook post I wrote when I shared this challenge after first signing up:

I know I don’t really post much of anything on here anymore (more just post vicariously through my wife, MacKenzie), but this one is serious. Most of you who know me know I lost my mother to cancer back in 2020, and I really struggled with it. It was one of the most physically and mentally unhealthy points of my life. Now, as a father of three beautiful children, my biggest fear is one of my babies enduring the same fate my mother and grandmother had to suffer.

On a lighter note, earlier this year I bought a nice mountain bike and turned that into a new hobby. In fact, my wife and our friends Tom and Val started going on rides regularly with our kids in tow. Even more recently, I have started going on solo trail rides recalling my old harescramble racing days (while not risking my probably-won’t-heal-as-fast-as-when-I-was-15 body as much as I would on a dirt bike). The biking was not just in an attempt to find a new hobby, but as a way to be more active and try to keep up with my rockstar workout wife. I’ve been fat and out of shape for far too long, and I wasn’t having it anymore. I’ve lost nearly 45 pounds this year. For the first time in a decade, I’m not overweight, and I don’t hate what I see in the mirror.

Altogether, this challenge I came across perfectly mixes two of my strongest passions: contributing to the fight against the scourge that is cancer and the new hobby I attribute almost wholly to my newfound health. So, if any of my friends here who ride want to join me, either in this challenge or actually out on the trails, please sign up!