ERRACE stands for Everybody Ride/Run Against Cancer Everyday. ERRACE.org is a charitable organization that raises money for the Harry and Helen Gray Cancer Center and for the Livestrong Foundation. The Harry and Helen Gray Cancer Center is a nationally-recognized center for the treatment of patients with cancer located in Hartford, CT. The Livestrong Foundation is an organization that provides support to, and aims to improve the lives of, people affected by cancer.
ERRACE fields a cycling team, for which I race, that competes in elite level cycling races both regionaly and nationally. Our goal is to win bike races therby raising awareness about the ERRACE.org. The prize money we win competing in these races is donated to ERRACE.org. Last year we were able to raise over $50,000 for ERRACE.org through prize winnings, through the fundraising efforts of the cycling team, and through corporate sponsorship of the team. In total ERRACE.org donated $130,000 to cancer charities last year.
I am not a cancer doctor or scientist. I cannot directly "fight cancer," by finding treatments or cures, or by having a direct impact on the lives of cancer patients as they receive their care. Most of us are limited in the direct impact we can have on cancer and cancer patients. It is for us to determine how we can still have impact. For most of us this means raising and giving money for this important cause.
For me, this is why the ERRACE cycling team is important to me. I can ride my bike; I can ride my bike to bring awareness about cancer and to raise money for charities dedicated to caring and advocating for those affected by cancer.
On Saturday, July 2nd I will ride my bike to raise money for ERRACE.org. I will ride my bike up Mt. Greylock in Western Massachusetts. I will ride my bike up this mountain not once, or twice, or even a handful of times. I hope to ride my bike up Mt. Greylock 30 times or more. I will ride my bike up Mt. Greylock once for every $150 I raise for ERRACE.org. My goal is to raise $4500.
If I succeed in my goal, I will ride my bike over 84,000 feet in elevation gain, the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest almost 3 times. Cool, right?! Crazy or stupid?! I challenge you to challenge me. Help me raise money for ERRACE.org. Punish me by making me climb the mountain one more time.
When I ride I will be thinking of my sister who was diagnosed with Stage 3 malignant melanoma about 6 years ago. She is in remission now, but I remember the fear and emotion of her diagnosis and I know the fear every time she has another scan. I will ride for my wife's dad who was taken from her in 2007 by pleural mesothelioma, cruelly. His family misses him and I imagine often that Carolina would have loved him.
Help me raise money for ERRACE.org. Challenge me to climb the mountain one more time (or whatever fraction thereof you choose to afford.)
Thank you for reading and for your generosity.
Tim