My dad has always been my biggest supporter. Whether it was an outdoor swim meet in 100° heat, a 5th grade band concert that sounded like dying animals, or a 14+ hour triathlon, he was there cheering me on. For my 19th birthday we even signed up to run a marathon together. He wimped out and only did the half, but still a pretty cool dad move. He was happy and healthy. It never occurs that those people could be anything but invincible. He’s MY dad, my rock, and my superhero, nothing bad could ever happen, right? February 1st, 2019 he had a real bad headache, like ER visit type headache. A lot of drugs and a CT scan later, they discovered he had a mass on his brain. He had a surgery later that day to remove whatever that mass was. A few days later the doctor called to report if it was malignant (cancer) or benign. I remember my dad telling me it was malignant and it was glioblastoma multiform (GBM for short). I remember him telling me to not look it up, no matter what. Well, as a young and curious kid with the power of google at my fingertips, I looked it up. If I had to describe GBM in three words, it would be: aggressive, thief, and heartbreaking. My dad, my rock, my superhero didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this. This aggressive cancer with a 12 to 15 month survival rate. This cancer that steals life from loved ones. This cancer that breaks hearts. I can tell you from firsthand experience, cancer truly sucks. It’s hard, like 7 day old, stale French bread hard, to see someone you love have to go through that kind of battle. Because there is no cure for GBM, it is easy to want to give up hope. It’s downright depressing to go on knowing life is limited. Luckily, I had a great 15 months with my dad before GBM took him in May of 2020.

I’m riding for my dad, Bill Manson. I’m riding for some of the people he met along the way who have also been taken away too soon from their loved ones, like Martin and Frank. I’m riding for my Nana who passed away from cancer when I was 5. I’m riding for hope that someday, someone out in the world will create a cure to beat this thing, this thief. I’m riding for all of the people that have had to go through the heart break of losing a friend, a colleague, a parent, a neighbor, the list goes on. That’s why I’m raising money for cancer research and riding 4000 miles to Alaska. This ride is for all the people who have lost their battle too early, and for those who will remember them.