The American Cancer Society Bikeathon - Why I Ride

Two weeks in a row, two colleagues of mine lost parents to cancer, both in their early sixties. I hate watching people I care about suffer the loss of loved ones to this disease. Through my lifetime, I have seen too many friends, relatives, colleagues suffer and die, too young, from cancer.

It's a horrible thing to watch someone go through this - the initial diagnosis, the aggressive treatments, cautious optimism, remissions sometimes, wishful thinking, desperate attempts to extend the patient's life, then the realization that, in spite of everything, they are now in an end-of-life situation, a life ending too soon. Seeing the anguish on a person's face as they are telling me their story kills me, being unable to do or say anything to help. 

The good news is, a cancer diagnosis is not necessarily the death sentence it used to be, but we have a long way to go. 

For this reason, every year I get on my bicycle and ride 66 miles 90 degree heat in the Philadelphia Bike-a-thon to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. I have upped my goal from $1,000 last year to $1,500 this year. I have a way to go, but I know I can count on my friends and family to help me fight this disease so no family has to go through the anguish of losing their mothers, fathers, and other loved ones to cancer.  

The ride is Sunday, July 8, 2012. If you'd like to help out, you can click on THIS LINK to get to my fundraising page.

Thank you to all who have contributed so far.

Who Are You Riding For?

Now, before the Grammar Police jumps all over me, the title of this post is the motto of the American Cancer Society Bikeathon, coming next year on Sunday, June 10, 2011. Once again, I've signed up to ride the 66 miles and will be hitting up my friends and family for donations sometime in the future.

As you know, from time to time I write for iReport, CNN's place for citizen journalists. As iReporters, we can write about anything we want. We can also respond to assignments posted by the CNN staff. Coincidentally, a new assignment called "Your questions about cancer" came up at the same time I was signing up for next year's ride. The assignment was to post a question to oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

My question was, "What does the American Cancer Society do with the money raised by such events as the bikeathon?".

Apparently, CNN liked my question, as evidenced by the little red "CNN iReport" badge the stamp on the upper left side of the photo, which in this case is a still from my video question. So much so, that, when you go to the "Assignment" page, there is my mug, on the main page. Unfortunately the screen grab and facial expression make me look like I'm suffering from severe intestinal distress, but there I am.

So, look for me soon on CNN.com when the Dr. Mukherjee segment is aired, or posted. Of course I'll tip you off when I find out when.

As for the title question, "Who are you riding for?", the answer, sadly, is too many to name. Friends, relatives, coworkers, many lost to this disease, many who have fought and survived, and many who are still fighting. You know who you are, and this is for you.

American Cancer Society Bikeathon - This Sunday

This Sunday, July 12th, I will be riding in the American Cancer Society Bikeathon.

The Bikeathon is a 64.6 bicycle mile ride from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, PA to Buena, NJ. This will be my fifth year riding. Over 4,000 riders participate in the event, raising over $1 million for this worthy cause, supported by donations from generous people like you. The goal this year is $2 million.

I will be Twittering throughout the event Sunday, mobile uploading photos to my Facebook page and iReport, so stay tuned.

If you wish to make a donation, please go to the following link to my personal page:

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/jeffpickens

Thanks!