"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've made a commitment to ride 100 miles in the Lake Tahoe Century on June 3rd, but more importantly, I am dedicating my effort to a greater cause. That cause is to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I've joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. I am raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Denver Snowstorm, Feb 2012--- --- Top of Deer Creek Canyon, March

Lookout Mountain, April --- --- --- --- ---The Team

I am training several times a week from now until the Century with the help of dedicated TNT coaches and mentors. We've done A LOT of climbing and luckily, the weather is much better than it was in Feb. The training is tough, but nothing compared to what cancer patients face every day.

The Reason:

Since I began this journey with Team in Training, I have had the honor to meet some amazing people who have fought the battle with cancer and won. It's the reason why we do this. I'd like you to meet a couple of them.

Jocelyn Herod (our team hero)

The new Mom & Dad with twins, Jonah & Elliott

In May 2006, at age 27, Jocelyn was diagnosed with Stage 4B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She endured a terrifying time of failed chemo, stem-cell transplants, and a long slow recovery process. The good news....On January 4th 2012, she and her husband, Christian, celebrated her 5th year in remission. They are now the very busy parents of two-year-old twins, Jonah & Elliott.

Hudson Davis

Hudson hits a line drive over shortstop for a single.

Hudson is passionate about playing baseball. But, at age 12, before his upcoming Little League season was to begin, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and with a true athlete's determination, when he wasn't too sick from the treatments, he went to every practice and game possible. He helped pitch and hit his Little League team to first place and was named to his league's all-star squad. Hudson is now a 16 year old high school sophomore and 3.5 years cancer free. He is the number one second baseman and the number two pitcher on his school’s varsity baseball team.

Please support this lifesaving charity so that others might celebrate their own cure.

LLS funds research programs which have directly contributed to many breakthrough cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and new, targeted oral therapies.

• When compared to all non-profit health organizations that fund both research and patient services, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society returns the highest percentage (76.2% in 2010) of funds back to it's mission.

As you make your donation, if there is someone special that you would like me to ride "in honor of" or someone you have lost that I can ride "in memory of" please give me their name. I will be taking a list of those names with me, tucked in my jersey, as I make the journey. You and they will be with me every mile of the way.

Please make a generous donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

......And feel free to send my webpage to anyone you believe would like to make a donation to this very important mission. Thank you so much for your time and support.