It's official. I'm registered for the Livestrong Challenge in Austin, TX on October 22-25. Some guys from Roswell's Grace Community Church got me going on this thing and so I finally committed to do it today. as I was riding my bike to work, I thought, every pedal stroke up these hils is one stroke closer to being able to do a century, again. I'm SO excited.
One thing about this Livestrong Challengethat I'm not excited about is the fundraising. I'm all for it, but I'm not very good at it. I always feel funny asking people for money for a cause. When I was in choir in high school, my parents would just buy the candy bars and put them in the freezer, because they knew that I would leave them in my Bronco to melt and then they would end up paying for them, anyway. Plus, I'm pretty sure my dad ate the candy and it didn't go to waste! I mean, I know I'll make the $250 goal, but it won't be easy. My participant ID is: 300690573, so if you feel generous, look me up in the donate now section under Jay Smith for the Challenge in Austin and give me some support. I need it.
Why would I want to do this? It's a fundamental question that goes back to the reason WHY I'm riding my bike to work. Bikes are a tool for the greater good of humanity, which means that they can do more than save some greehouse gases. Bicycles, unlike any other group of activities really bring people together. I can't think of a single active lifestyle sport that doesn't do something for others in their endeavors, but they don't have the power that bicycles have.
That said, you might be saying to yourself, what about the walk for breast cancer and the St. Jude's Motorcycle rallies and the Team in Training? They all do fundraisers, but the main reason that they don't have the same kind of power is that they don't have Lance Armstrong. He is the reason that people are so aware of bikes and cancer: two things that totally don't fit together. So, when you doubt the power of bikes, think of the millions of people who watched the Tour de France just one time from 1999-2005 to watch a guy who was pronounced dead, before his time, come back to win it SEVEN times in a row, come back again to it and place third, then fade from the race, because of a run of bad luck. But, Lance never drops off the radar.
Another big reason that I want to do this ride is because I've known some people in my life who have suffered the ultimate price from cancer. One person, in particular, is the reason I'm doing this ride. I'm riding for my aunt, Ruthie, who was diagnosed with Malanoma on her leg, just a couple of years ago. the cancer was matastacized to the bone in her leg and she had to have may surgeries to get the cancer out. She still suffers with a lot of pain from the incision and from the scar tissue that now envelopes her calf muscle. She recovered, but it's not like a cut you just heal from. She must go back to the doctors every year form annual evaluations and she must always walk with a limp: a grim reminder of the cancer.
I also ride for my Grandfather, K.C. Hefner, who died from a long battle with bladder cancer and decided not to continue his fight against it. The medications ruined his life and mental well-being, because of a mistaken mixture of medications and the medical care he received was not up to par and therefore, the battle was deemed hopeless for him, I guess from his own standpoint.
I ride for my wife's maternal grandmother, Mary, who passed away from breast cancer before the research and any quality treatment was available to women. She died young and left three children to be raised by someone else.
I ride for John, my brother-in-law's dad, who has a serious type of cancer that does not have a ton of research done on it and is threatening. Lots of prayers are needed for him, his son and my sister-in-law, Dana as they go through a pretty rough time.
I ride for the fact that, since I was a pretty heavy smoker and a dipper in my late teens and twenties, that I will likely suffer the effects of cancer sometime before I reach my sixties. The future of cancer research is in the hands of many fine professionals who need all the resources they can get to smoehow prevent and treat this disease.
So, that's why I ride. Whay do you ride or run or walk or tri?
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