A Parent’s Journey – Pablove Across America, Day 4
Today was a good, although deceiving, day. We woke up to the beautiful sounds of the Pacific Ocean in Pismo Beach – a perfect setting to start the day. Our morning dedication was given by Townsend Myers and Rusty Roussel to Julian Woods Haney from New Orleans. Julian has leukemia and is an inspiration for our contingent of riders from the south, and provided great inspiration for our ride throughout the day.
The route was our shortest of the week mileage-wise, but it included 4,150 feet of climbing. Of course, our riders, being as amazing as they are, took the challenge head on. There’s no sugar coating it – it turned out to be a brutal climb for some. The gorgeous countryside really helped make it more bearable, with a few wild turkeys cheering us on as we rode by. With the amazing support of our teammates and our crew, we made it into Cambria after a steep, winding descent.
Speaking of crew, a huge THANK YOU to all of them who are making this week possible. They’re working or riding all day, and then coming into town and working all night to clean bikes, prepare lunches, and recover riders. So THANK YOU Bryan, Janis, Ryan, Heather, Suzanne, Lani, Mark, Julie, Chad, Stan, Woody, Vince, Tim, and Kjeld. This week would not have been possible without you being here!
At dinner, we heard from two riders whose children have battled cancer, and won. Adam Weber, who has been on our ride every year except 2014, gave a deeply personal account of what the first 36 hours of his son’s diagnosis and treatment were like. His point was that it could happen to anyone – at 10 a.m. on a Friday you could take your child to the doctor thinking he has bad constipation or a virus, and by the next afternoon, he’s out of surgery and getting hooked up for chemotherapy treatments. No parent wants to believe it will happen to their child, but almost 16,000 children in the U.S. will be told they have cancer this year.
New Pablove Across America rider Carlos Rosa, from New Jersey, spoke about his son’s leukemia diagnosis, and the amazing team of doctors who helped his son. For his son, a leukemia diagnosis meant a particular protocol that is the same across the country, and how they had a pretty clear picture from day one what the next steps would be.
Carlos also hit home why it is that Pablove’s research grants are bringing the cancer community into the modern age. As he put it, he’s an “investment guy” and knows that a good portfolio often means diversifying investments. This is the type of approach Pablove takes in funding seed grants to cutting-edge research. As Carlos put it, one day, or hopefully MANY days, a $50,000 Pablove grant will “pop” and these researchers we’ve funded will discover something that could change the cancer game with further investments from places like the NIH.
Thank you Adam and Carlos for sharing your stories with us and giving us motivation for the 107-mile journey on Friday.
Click HERE to support our riders’ fundraising goals as they get nearer to the finish line so we may continue to support innovative childhood cancer research. Catch yesterday’s blog post HERE.
From the road,
Pablove Across America
Day 4 – Pismo Beach to Cambria – 57 miles
Funds Raised: $585,521
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