Riding the Livestrong Challenge. Asking you for a contribution.

Hello friends-

As many of you know my life has been profoundly affected by cancer. Four years ago my dear former wife Susan died from metastatic breast cancer after a 15 year on and off battle with the disease. I was with her and held her hand as she passed. Just one year ago, my mother also died due to lung cancer after fighting for a couple of years herself. She had never smoked a day in her life. I know that many of you have faced this terrible disease either yourself or in your family. Everyone is or will be affected by this disease at some point in their life.

One of my favorite bloggers, Elden Nelson of fatcyclist.com is now facing the same battle with his wife also named Susan. His situation is remarkably similar to mine of four years ago. His Susan has had her cancer spread to her bones and her brain and she is on steroids and receiving oxygen. The many rounds of Chemotherapy have failed to eradicate the disease. She is now in hospice care.

Elden has decided to form a team to join the Livestrong Challenge. His goal is to raise over 1 million dollars for cancer research. We may not get a cure right away but we can strike a blow. I have decided to join with Elden and his Team Fatty in this year’s event in San Jose California. I plan on riding my bike the full 100 miles. We want to be the largest team in Livestrong history and raise the most money we can.

As part of this effort I’m asking you to give me a hand at raising as much money as possible. Please consider donating $25 or more to my effort on my personal page. I am planning on matching whatever amount I get personally, and then my employer, Google, will match me up to $3000. So, you can see that your donation will be multiplied by a factor of 3.

Thanks for your consideration in helping me in this effort.

Paul