I am riding for my father who has been fighting cancer for more than 20 years. In 2005, my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer after a routine PSA test. Within just 10 days, his doctor presented two options: undergo radiation therapy or have his prostate surgically removed. He chose radiation and completed 45 sessions over the course of about a month and a half. The treatment successfully suppressed the cancer, allowing him to maintain a good quality of life for many years, though he has needed several additional rounds of radiation since then.

Fifteen years later, he developed large, golf ball-sized melanomas on his head. He underwent 15 immunotherapy infusions to shrink the tumors, followed by surgery to remove them. Today, his cancer markers remain very high, and he's fighting every day just to stay alive.

I'm a proud participant in the Pan-Mass Challenge - a bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country - to bring us Closer by the Mile to a cure for cancer.

Since its founding in 1980, PMC riders like me have raised more than $1 billion for lifesaving cancer research, treatment and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the country's top cancer care hospitals. My PMC is making a difference in the lives of patients at Dana-Farber and around the world. The funds I raise support the innovative work of doctors, nurses, and scientists in their search for cures for cancers and related diseases.

100 percent of every dollar I raise goes directly to Dana-Farber, meaning that your donation has a real impact! Please donate to my PMC fundraising and help me reach my fundraising goal.