Yesterday, I biked 100 miles to help find a cure for, and end cancer. It was by far, one of the most fulfilling and amazing things I have ever done.

Pelotonia isn't just any normal bike ride - it is the community coming together with one goal in mind. Over 6,700 people train and fundraise for months and months before this event. 248 pelotons (or teams) ride in this event. They dedicate their weekends to hours of riding and spend hours fundraising $1,800 or more for their ride alone.

I started riding and really got into it in May of this year. The amount of money it takes to purchase a bike and all the gear needed (shoes, pedals, helmet, bike shorts, gloves, water bottles/holders for the bike, bike pump, flat tire kit, and the list goes on), is a commitment in itself. It just goes to show how passionate all the Pelotonia riders are and how serious they are to biking and to this cause.

This is the 5th year that Pelotonia has been put on, and over $42 million dollars has been raised for cancer research at the James. The James is a top, completely dedicated cancer hospital in Columbus, OH. It is one of the only centers in the country funded by the National Cancer Institutet to conduct Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for new anti-cancer drugs (one of the man areas that the Pelotonia money goes to). To find out more about The James, visit their website

here

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If you think about it, almost every single person has been touched or affected by cancer, whether it is a family member's death, survival, current struggle; a friend who has been affected; or just hearing someone else's story. Constantly around the route, people would be at the end of their driveways, along the road, at rest stops, or grouped together in one of the towns we would pass through, holding signs that encouraged us, told us thank you, or listed who they knew affected by this terrible disease. One of the most touching things I came across while riding yesterday was a man holding a sign that read "Thank you for saving my wife".

There are not many things I have experienced in my life so far that have made me as proud as riding 100 miles. I feel so accomplished and I am so proud to help support this incredible cause. Riding with that group of people was so inspiring - so many riders were cancer survivors themselves. One man who stayed at about the same pace as us the entire ride was 83 years old. He was such an inspiration to me. 83 years old and 100 miles? That is incredible.