This is my 6th year raising money to find a cure for childhood cancer. This is a fantastic organization, and I love their fundraising arm The Great Cycle Challenge. As an adult I can ask the questions and make the decisions about my cancer. Kids, however, may not even be able to talk yet. I can only imagine how hard it is on them and their parents. There are lots of things that are not fair, this must be close to the top of the list. And it can be fixed.

On August 22nd I turned 60. Four days later Jeri and I will be loading up a camper van for the first time and will be driving to the western edge of Arizona. From there I will be riding historic Route 66 east for 12 days while Jeri drives the van behind me. We will stop at every roadside attraction on the way and document the whole thing.

This is my Bicycle Challenge, and it happens to also be Route 66’s 100th Anniversary year.

I've been fundraising through cycling for two decades now. The last three years, it's been personal in a different way. I've been in treatment for multiple myeloma, on an every-other-week schedule, and I've reached what my doctors call an almost total response. This trip exists because Labor Day gave me an extra week off treatment and Jeri and I decided to use it as big as we could.

I've come to believe that roughly 75% of my life is behind me. That's not a complaint — it's a fact I want to act on. I'm committed to making the next 25% the most impactful. This ride is one way I'm doing that.

My goal is to raise $22,000 for Great Cycle Challenge and another $44,000 for two other organizations I hold close to my heart.