A daunting task ahead

5 months from TODAY, I will participate in my very first Ride2Survive event.  And by 'participate', I don't mean volunteer this time.  I'll be attempting to ride the entire event.

Why?

Because I can (at least I *hope* I can!).


I've volunteered the last 2 years, and really loved being part of the team.  Last year, Den and I and the kids travelled back to B.C. so that we could be a part of the event.  Even though we had extremely generous people donate money to the cause in Den's name (and the name of loved ones that have fought a battle with cancer), we also had several people contact us to tell us that they would not be donating that year because we weren't riding.

I get it.  There are lots of worthy causes to donate to.  Tons.  It's often difficult to choose.

It just makes sense then for both of us to attempt to ride our bikes this year, in the hopes that we will raise more money towards the cause than when we volunteer for it.

To say we have been touched by cancer is an understatement.  Den will forever bare the scars from losing a lobe of his lung to it......and we are one of the VERY lucky ones that caught it early enough.  The least we can do is try to pay it forward, and hope that someday no one else will need to hear that diagnosis.

Am I scared?  Yes.  I have no idea how I'll fit in all of the training that is required to prepare properly for this.  This isn't an ordinary bike ride.  400kms on our bike, in a single day.  Oh ya, and I should mention that it's over two mountain passes, with 12,000 feet of climbing.  Yikes.

Probably the worst part of all will be training to do this without the support of the wonderful Ride2Survive teammates.  The ones that plan the routes.  Drive the support vehicles.  Bake the treats to refuel us.  Pick you up when you have no gas left in your tank.  Encourage you when you think you can't possibly turn the pedals even a single time more.  Remind you why you're doing it.  We'll miss them terribly.

Over the course of the next 5 months, I'll try to post updates on the training and the ups and downs of getting ready.  Perhaps some of you will follow along and post reminders and encouragements to keep us motivated.  I'd love if you'd share a personal story of how you were affected by cancer (loved one, friend, yourself).  Hearing the names and seeing the faces behind this disease is so much more powerful than a statistic.

This was us after Den's Ride2Survive, 2011