Pelotonia - One Goal

I was late to arrive to the party.  A party that is large in numbers, yet sometimes seems exclusive.  I always thought I understood and was compassionate enough to be invited, yet when I finally was, I realized how clueless I had been.I was invited to the Cancer party.  Before I was officially invited, I would hear of so many people diagnosed with cancer in my small town alone.  I knew these people.  I felt terrible for them, I hurt for them, and I prayed for them...but it never directly affected my life.I saw commercial after commercial for cancer societies, have been invited to fundraisers, and have ran in races to support the cause.  I thought, yes, they need to find a cure; we really need to work on that one.But now, after being invited to the party, I want to scream at the top of my lungs, "Somebody, anybody, FIND A CURE!  End this terrible thing that we call cancer!"  Why is it taking so long?  Why do we still have more questions that answers?  And what am I doing change it?  What am I doing to make sure that it stops with my mom, and I or my siblings do not get cancer next?  I never felt like what I could do would make a difference, until I was connected with Pelotonia.I want to officially introduce you to Pelotonia.  Pelotonia is a year long community with a three day bike riding event.  There is ONE GOAL...END CANCER.It is held in the Columbus, OH area.  There are six different distances that you can ride, from 25 miles up to 180 miles.  The amazing part of it all - every cent raised, 100% of it, goes to directly support cancer research conducted at the Comprehensive Cancer Center—James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC—James) at The Ohio State University. It is amazing to read some of the research they are doing right now with Pelotonia raised funds.  (Go here to read about it)  Seeing that they are leading a national pancreatic cancer trial makes it even more personal for me.Trevor is riding this year, and we couldn't be more ecstatic about it.  I want to tell everyone I know, this is how you can help END CANCER.  There are so many different ways that you can be involved.

1. Donate to Trevor's ride.  He has committed to raise $1250, but I think we can do better than that.  Click here to go to his Pelotonia profile page and you can donate right there.  And continue to watch my blog because we have all sorts of events in mind to raise money that are going to be lots of fun!
2. Become a Virtual Rider.  Registering as a Virtual Rider is an option for people who want to be a part of Pelotonia but aren't necessarily up for actually riding during the event.  It only costs $10 to get started and that $10 serves as a donation to help jump start your fundraising efforts and their is no fundraising minimum.
3. Ride with us!!  We would love for more people to commit to ride in Pelotonia this year.  It is August 9-11.  If we get 4 more riders to join Trevor we can start a Peloton group...which would be amazing!  If you are interested, let me know and if we get enough people interested we have someone from Pelotonia willing to come answer all your questions.

Before you brush this all to the side, like I have done so many times after reading about events like this, do me a favor and watch this video for me.  I promise you will not regret spending the next 8 minutes listening to this amazing young man![embed width="853" height="480"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9xgJ0uweAQ[/embed]You are here, and together we can work towards this one goal.  If you want to do something to end cancer and don't know what to do, ride with us, be a virtual rider, or donate to Trevor's ride.  It is not just the people affected by cancer right now that we are trying to help - it is for you, me, and our kids because statiscially we will probably hear the word cancer used someday to diagnose us.  And when we do, I hope it doesn't hold the fear that it does now.I'll leave you with this, why Trevor has decided to ride this year.I am going to ride 50 miles and raise over one thousand dollars to help stop cancer. I have been asked over and over why not do just the 25 miles since it is my first time - because the person I am riding for never did the minimum. She always did more than anyone ever asked her to do. Jill always did more. I am riding because my wife lost her person, my son lost his ma ma and her seven children lost their mom. I am riding for One Goal.