Since I was first asked the question “why do you ride?” until now I’ve always believed it was a loaded question. Because the underlying tone of shock is true, why would I commit a year and half to training for a 70-day bike ride to Alaska? My answer is this. The foundation for why I ride is due to my personal tie to cancer. About 13 years ago, when I was around the age of 8 my mother, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had no idea what hit my family. I didn’t know what cancer was and I especially didn’t know why I wasn’t allowed to see her. I wasn’t sure why I had to stay at my padrina’s house, and I wish I could forget the pain I felt waking up in the middle of the night craving to be back with my mom. That time wasn’t good for my family, but I’m grateful that it did make us stronger. Over the years, my mom has been in remission (thankfully) and has battled and won multiple fights over other diseases she’s experienced. However, amongst the triumph is my underlying hatred for cancer and what it’s continuing to do to other families around the world. Things worked out for us, but many are not so blessed.  

With respect to my fundraising goal, I’ve actually been thinking about the number 4,500 a lot. What it means to me, what it means to a child with osteosarcoma, and what it would’ve meant to my mom in 2007. To me it’s an opportunity, a very challenging but important one, to help fund cancer research. To the child with osteosarcoma, it’s a chance at life. A chance to beat cancer, because researchers have just found a cure. To my mother in 2007 it would have meant that more research was being done for breast cancer, and maybe, just maybe another woman across the world wouldn’t have to go through the pain that she did. I believe in my community, family and friends and will continue to work to achieving this goal and taking one more step to do my part in the fight against cancer.

On another note, here are some other reasons why I ride, outside of cancer edition. Something that has always stuck with me was a phrase my pops always said, “be grateful for what you have and who you are, because there’s always someone next to you who has it worse than you.” I live by this quote, not a day goes by that I don’t appreciate the simple blessing of waking up to a new day with my family by my side. However, I choose to believe it’s what I do with that blessing that makes the world keep turning. I aim to give back, I aim to help those less fortunate than me, and I make sure that I make my parents proud in every endeavor I pursue.

With that said, I’m always looking for a new opportunity to raise awareness, sacrifice my time, or help anyone in need which led me to Texas 4000. My roommate knew a 2018 rider, Leslie, who said that she wrote down every person’s name she met along her ride on her leg and that every time she felt she couldn’t continue biking she would look at those names and would remember who she was doing it for. This is why I ride; I ride for my mother, I ride for anyone who has fought or is fighting cancer, and I ride for every person in the world struggling to keep moving. I want to be the person for them that encourages them to keep pushing and ensure they know that together we can make it to where we want to go.

Thank you for hearing me out and I hope that you remember to breathe in the fresh air, soak in the sunlight and keep fighting for what you believe in!

To Alaska and back,

Danielle Nicole Trejo