Does it take courage for me to cycle 100 miles? No. It does not. Does it take courage to cycle 200 miles? No. It does not. Does it take courage to cycle 3500 miles? No. It does not. All it really takes is a bit of fitness and mental craziness stamina.
It takes courage to stand up and fight against cancer.
It takes courage to live with and fight against MS.
It takes courage to fight and win against leukemia.
It takes courage to stare down Parkinson’s Disease and keep riding.
It takes courage to fight diabetes, heart disease, ALS, chronic pain, depression and so many more of life’s medical challenges.
Since I can ride, and enjoy doing so, I feel privileged to be able to help others fight by raising awareness and funding for their causes. Yesterday, I had a special opportunity to bring awareness to Pediatric Cancer research. I challenged myself to ride for 24 hours to highlight the need and raise some funds. I didn’t quite make the 24 hours due to a flat that I didn’t have the courage to change in the cold and dark, but we were able to raise over $1000.00 in honor of a special person who lost her battle with cancer 3 years ago, while starting a full on war. Molly W. had way more courage than I could ever hope to have. The ride wasn’t a total loss either. I rode over 200 miles (35 after fixing the flat in the morning), and I had fun with friends who came out in support to run or ride for a bit.
Pics of the day:
Song of the day:
Ride on!
Michele Across America 