We rode another 100 miles today leaving the beach behind and heading inland towards Tallahassee to cross into the eastern time zone at the Apalachicola River. The pavement was smooth, the scenery green punctuated with white magnolia blossoms, and the wind quiet.
I wore two jerseys today, my BikeBreatheBelieve and John Matthews’ Ride Hard Breathe Easy jersey. John created the nonprofit Ride Hard Breathe Easy in memory of his mother, Kathleen Matthews, who died of lung cancer in 2011. John, like me, proceeded to bike across the US to raise awareness and funds for lung cancer research and advocacy. In John’s words, “it broke my heart to see Mom suffer and the hurt deepened when I saw how little was being done to detect and treat lung cancer and help patients living with it.” He promised his mother when she was very sick that he would “do something” and so he did. When I was preparing for my own ride, John and his organization were quick to offer help and guidance and have been extremely supportive every day of our journey. Please take a minute to learn more about Ride Hard Breathe Easy at www.ridehardbreatheeasy.com. RHBE organizes an annual ride along the Schuylkill River Trail in Conshohocken as well as virtual rides every November. For wine enthusiasts they also host an annual fundraiser called Wine Hard Breathe Easy. Ride Hard Breathe Easy works to bring hope to lung cancer patients and funds raised through their events benefit hospitals and organizations supporting lung cancer patients, advocacy and research.
As the saying goes, “it takes a village” and that is certainly the case if we are to make progress in our campaign for better diagnostics and treatments for lung cancer. And so I ask all of you to please help us in the last few days of our ride to share the lung cancer facts and stories we have been posting throughout our journey to help raise awareness. Please share our website bikebreathebelieve.org and facebook/instagram with friends and family and help us make lung cancer a chronic disease rather than the deadly killer it is today. With gratitude to Ride Hard Breath Easy and all who are helping us spread awareness. ?