Born: November 09, 1973

Died: July 21, 2009

As you may remember, the LIVESTRONG Challenge is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s signature fundraising event inspired by the hope, courage and perseverance of Lance and the nearly 12 million Americans affected by cancer. Each year thousands of people take the Challenge, uniting individuals to stand together to fight cancer. This was my first year participating, and I chose to ride the 100 mile option. It was both a personal challenge and a way to honor those affected by cancer.

I learned of the LIVESTRONG Challenge last year, in the aftermath of my surgery to remove the malignant melanoma from my chest and as I was becoming very interested in cycling. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to take my new found love and use it, not only as a way to show cancer that it cannot defeat me, but to honor the memory of my parents- both of whom I lost to cancer, and to do something to help eliminate this terrible disease from the face of the Earth.

So I registered in January 2008 and sent out my first round of emails to friends, family, and coworkers. The response was tremendous and by the end of the month I was well on my way to my fundraising goal. As the year went by, I continued to send out updates of my progress as I worked on building up my cycling endurance, and the donations kept coming.

It was my goal not just to finish the Challenge, but to do so strongly and in a reasonable time. My first ride of the season was on March 23rd and I did my best to ride as often as possible. I rode into work each shift along the B&A Trail, from Glen Burnie to Annapolis which would take about an hour and each week I tried to get in a longer ride that I had the week before.

The LIVESTRONG Challenge is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's signature fundraising event, raising funds and awareness for the fight against cancer. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF unites people through programs and experiences to empower cancer survivors to live life on their own terms and to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.

As many of you know, not only did I loose both of my parents to cancer but I am a cancer survivor myself having been diagnosed with melanoma in December 2006. This Challenge will combine my new found love of cycling with the desire to do something to help others who find themselves victims of cancer.

With an agenda focused on Prevention, Research, Access to Screening & Care, and Improvement in the Quality of Life for Cancer Survivors I believe that the LAF is the best way for me to do so. They are routine contributors to such Maryland based initiatives as the Active Survivors Network, the Ulman Cancer Fund, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland.

Over the past weekend I successfully completed the 100 mile Seagull Century bike ride hosted by Salisbury University. It is the 19th annual event, which has become a nationally acclaimed bicycle tour and serves to finance student programs, scholarships, and charities.

I have my buddy Menassa from work to thank for dragging me back into cycling. I've always had bikes and have ridden off and on, but never very frequently. I think that has to do with falling into the whole mountain bike rut that the world is in right now. Like many folks I've bought several mountain bikes with no intention of ever going off paved surfaces with them... this, of course, lead to frustration for a guy who prefers to see the world as a blur (at least when it comes to going from one place to another.)

Once I finally decided to ride my bike to work in the mornings with him, and after having him push me down the B&A Trail two or three times, I broke down and bought an outright road bike. The Trek 1500 I chose is actually a racing model and it's aerodynamic riding postion & skinny tires let me cruise along at a pace that let's me really feel as if I'm going somewhere, which keeps me happy as I pedal along. Much nicer and less frustrating... the right tool for the job, so they say.

I think Menassa is actually using me as an excuse to ride more himself, but it has gotten me out exercising which I've never liked to do, but really need to do more of (don't we all?) It has also given me some personal goals to try and acheive and that certainly comes in handy when trying to meet those needs Maslow always talked about. I've certainly noticed a difference in the last few months as we've biked to work and riding the first two-thirds of the Civil War Century was a great accomplishment.