Here is a little about why I ride. My mom has always been the healthiest person I know. She grows all of our food in a massive backyard vegetable garden, only eats eggs that come from our chickens, runs 5 miles a day, and can swim the length of an entire lake without getting tired. 

That is why, last summer, I was completely shocked when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before my mom’s diagnosis, I had never experienced cancer firsthand, although my grandfather died of lung cancer. It took him before I got the chance to meet him, but my dad's stories about their days at the family lake house and hunting together make me wish that I got that opportunity. 

My mom has always been relatively skeptical of doctors– when talking about mammograms before her diagnosis, she shrugged them off. Maybe her cancer could have been caught months (or years), earlier if she had gotten her annual mammograms. I know she regrets that every day. Unfortunately, that is the reality for millions of people. Early diagnosis is the most important and deciding factor of cancer fatality rates. That is why I want to cycle to Alaska to fight cancer. I want to stop in every little town on the way to Alaska and inform people about the importance of early detection and prevention. 

To Alaska and back, 

Grace