Just imagine how this country has wrapped itself around recent political changes; uniting on common ground, speaking in phenomenal numbers.
Imagine if more than a million people put their efforts and focus into eradicating cancer, all at once in one single day.
I get it, our democracy is sacred, when our rights are threatened we come together, fuse in hopes of suffocating detrimental policies & change. Demanding our collective voice be heard, our constitutional rights as citizens not be jeopardized. There is an urgency to act.
I feel that urgency. To act & fight. & though the PMC doesn’t physically draw a million peeps over the course of the first weekend in August, it does draw about 250,000 supporters, who collectively raise over $40 million a year, with only 4500 riders. A tremendous achievement.
But it doesn’t happen in 1 day. Like all influential movements, they take time to execute. Each rider relentlessly begs for the support, the dollars to achieve their personal fundraising goals over the course of the months leading up to it – at the same time we have to keep the momentum going, the endless miles of training. The focus. It never escapes our mind. It becomes intertwined with who we are.
And we do this year after year. For CANcer research.
If you’ve been with me on this journey from the beginning you know why I ride; it’s for Johnny, it’s for Dave, its for every person who I know & don’t that has succumbed to the monster, who is fighting to beat it with a desperation we cannot understand. Who has survived it, who has lost someone & is still on the path to find them again. Those who have finally been able to grieve & have found their lost one.
It’s personal, but it’s not. It’s like an underground whisper that we all share. Cancer is uncomfortable. We are all so afraid of it. Like the dark. Somerthing we've all been petrified of at some point in our lives.
We have our own personal experiences with it, much like we have had our own unique reactions to the political landscape that now exists. But cancer doesn’t discriminate & it doesn’t side with one political party or the other. Tthis monumental movement we have just witnessed should set a precedence for our voices, share your voice and commmit to the common fight and the urgency to put cancer in its’ place.
I encourage you - whatever you feel inspired to act and fight for, whatever you feel responsible for - do it. Do it over and over again, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Persistence breads results.
This year I ride for my tribe, the one I know – you guys, those of you who are relentless supporters of this effort I have chosen to make a part of me. And the ones I don’t, the riders alongside who offer mostly words of encouragement, sparks of triumph, a comradery that gives me strength that I often need.
Who even named this atrocious disease? Who would put the CAN in CANcer if we can’t overcome it?
Thankyou. For your time, consideration, support. It’s because of you I keep this exhausting & invigorating movement in my life.
go ahead & donate, I promise it won’t hurt, you’ll actually get a little high from it!
xxx
