Texas 4000 for Cancer 2012 rider, Georgene Hergenroeder, encapsulates exactly what the T4K experience feels like once the 4,500 mile journey is finished: “Now that the ride is over, I get the same question over and over again; people ask me, “What was your favorite part?” It’s somewhat unfortunate that this is the most common question that I get because it is an incredibly difficult question to answer. Every day was both the best day of my life and the hardest day of my life. For example, when I look back on the ride from Cheyenne to Laramie and consider how physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted I felt, I would still go back and do it again…While I can’t tell you what my favorite part is, I can tell you one of the greatest lessons that I learned, and one that I plan to remember for the rest of my life. I can narrow it down to one simple word: perspective…I learned that there are truly difficult problems in the world, and all we can do is try our best every day to love the people around us and put these problems to an end.” Click the link to read more. As a 2009 rider, I’m feeling so proud of everyone in the Texas 4000 organization for what we’ve all done, and what the successive teams will continue to do to help others in the years to come.

Check out some of my Survivor Summit teammates and I in today’s LIVESTRONG blog! Thanks to their stories, I’m inspired, motivated, and ready to climb Kilimanjaro to fight cancer.

Good luck to the 2012 riders on their amazing 4,500 journey from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to spread hope, knowledge, and charity in the fight against cancer! And thanks for your support of LIVESTRONG! See you all tomorrow at the ATLAS ride.

GOOD shares the story of London-based broadcast journalist Ellie Jeffery, who was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer that had spread to her lungs, liver, and bones. Her doctor told her she had only months to live. But not being one to go down without a fight, Jeffery started writing a blog called “Written Off” (named as such because her doctor had written her off as dead). “Cancer is a shitter, there’s no doubt about it, but there are ways to make your life work with it. It’s not easy but for the moment I feel lucky to have the security of routine and the ability to hold on to hope,” she wrote. Jeffery died on May 18, 2012—two years after her diagnosis. She was just 29 years old. Read the GOOD article online, and visit her blog to honor this woman’s brave fight.

What a cool surprise to find myself featured in the Texas 4000 for Cancer Alumni newsletter today (not only in the Alumni Spotlight section, but also in the slightly embarrassing photo at a rest stop in the 2012 Century Test blurb!). I’m so honored to be climbing with Survivor Summit to support LIVESTRONG’s cancer programs and services. Many thanks to Vanessa White for putting it all together, and as always, much love and support goes out to the Texas 4000 2012 riders—who on Saturday, June 2, will start riding their bicycles over 4,500 miles from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to spread hope, knowledge, and charity in the fight against cancer! I’ll be volunteering, and you can still come out to help, or just enjoy the great cause, bikes, and BBQ. See you there.

Hope Day is a new event created by Texas 4000 for Cancer (affectionately called T4K). Members of this University of Texas at Austin student organization will ride their bicycles all 4,500 miles north to Alaska starting June 2 to spread hope, knowledge, and charity in the fight against cancer. Riders, T4K alumni (like me!), supporters, and friends are invited out to the first annual Hope Day at the downtown Whole Foods in Austin for live music, games, and inspiring stories today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.