I woke up this morning and my right foot was numb. My left lung felt like it was on fire. The balls of my feet were tender as I slipped on my socks. And my ass was rubbed raw.
Pelotonia 2018 finished.
100 grueling miles in 90 degree heat took it’s toll on my body. Ironic how yesterday’s weather pattern looks exactly like the hills we rode yesterday to END CANCER!
This was my fifth ride and my wife’s second ride. This year we trained less, not because we were unprepared for what was to come, but because we have children who need us, and getting away for hours of training would take us away from what we love.
Cancer patients don’t have that same choice. They don’t have the choice to be at home, or to receive treatment. They are thrust into the middle of a battle they did not choose, a treatment they did not ask for and a disease they prayed will be banished from their lives.
Yesterday as we worked finishing a 100 miles, there were families who were celebrating a life well lived, as they lost their loved one to cancer. Yesterday, there were families who were fast forwarding plans and experiences with Make A Wish Foundation because they were slammed with a diagnosis that brought death near. Yesterday, there was one family who planned a wedding in less than 48 hours for their engaged daughter after their mother was given just weeks to live.
All because of Cancer.
My teammates on this journey were old friends, family members and new friends.
My soulmate on this ride was my wife.
She walked the cancer journey with me in 2013-2014. Several times she contemplated quitting. It was damn hard, with very little training to complete a 2,928.4 foot elevation climb over 100 miles in less than 9 hours. But she did it.
She did it because she remembers the hills we climbed in 2013. And we remembered those who were battling and those we’ve lost.
Countless times she told me to go on, leave her behind because I was feeling better than her this year. At rest stops, on hills, on winding roads she would say, go ahead and sprint to the finish, you feel good, go on ahead. 
But she never quit on me in 2013 when I was telling her the same thing. Don’t sit with me, go be with our kids. Why are you awake with me, it’s 3am, I know I feel like shit, but go get some rest. She never quit on me. I never quit on her. And we never quit on you, our fellow citizens of this cancer community.
We kept going together. And finished together.
The smiles at the finish covered up on the pain on the ride. My foot was numb, my toe was blistered, Lynn’s right hamstring was torn to pieces, her neck was cramped and our asses were on fire.
As we reflect on another year, with more conviction than ever we commit ourselves to bringing forward a day when we no longer have to ride. I want it so bad. When cancer is a disease of the past.
I did not choose to have a permanent IV in my right arm in January 2014. I did not choose the Potassium drip in November 2013. I did not choose to have a surgical infection and spend Thanksgiving feasting on antibiotics rather than turkey. But I choose this because I can and will fight for my children.
You in our fellow cancer community did not choose the journey you walk. But we walk with you, the Pelotonia community. Seeking, praying and riding for a destination on this journey, where cancer does not conquer but we do. By God’s grace we’ve been given life, and for our children we strive forward. For our family we mount the bike. For the entire community of those who’ve lost we – pedal, breathe, pedal, breathe, pedal – another hill conquered, another cancer patient saved, another family who can say, just as I say, Thank You! You saved my life!
Join with us in perseverance, in sacrifice and in prayer for those who suffer.
May we arrive at our heavenly home one day knowing that we laid it all on the line, that we lived as Paul once lived saying:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
2 Timothy 4:27
Until we arrive in our heavenly home, we shall fight the good fight with our lives. We will finish the race and remain faithful to finish this battle with cancer.
Thank you for supporting us as we ride for you.
PELOTONIA 2018. END CANCER.
Intersect Me 