What keeps the pedals turning?
I took a big step this winter, and stepped down from captaining this wonderful team. My focus and commitments have been elsewhere and after 10 years at the helm it is time for a change. I believe in term limits, and this applies to me too. The Wheels of Justice and the Courage Classic have been the greatest achievement of my life, and I plan to be a rider forever more. We joined Wheels as a family in 2010 give or take and within 1 year as a rider I joined the leadership team, and a year after that I was running the whole thing. I dove in head first and never looked back, and I am really stinking proud of the FIVE MILLION dollars we raised!!!
While the workload of captaining the team was great, the reward has always been greater. I am so happy to step away with love and joy and hope for the team's future and not an ounce of resentment. The first thing we did was book our condo for 2026, and we are thrilled to come as a family and ride with my nephews and cousins and share the joy and magic that the Courage Classic is for so many.
The commitment I have to funding cancer research and treatment at Children's is stronger than ever. As I look through pictures over the last 15+ years from the Courage Classic I am overwhelmed with joy and heartache. Too many pictures have kids and adults who have died of cancer. My heart is heavy knowing I won't see them this summer and that we will have new riders who never got to know Koby, Arlene, Martha, or Dr. Bob. It's hard to understand how this is possible.
And so, we ride and we fundraise.
We are celebrating survivors this year, it's the team's 21st year and it's time for some good news in the world. We have lot's of good news, after all, my journey led me here with Brandon's survival. That's what this is all about! More survivors, better treatment, less side effects, mental health, and tools to live their lives.
So, for 2026 (as we have since 1998) we are celebrating the crap out of Brandon!!! We are so lucky that he beat all odds with AML & ALL leukemia, diagnosed before the internet... living in a third world country and flown to Children's Hospital Colorado in a hail Mary effort, he lived. We would not be who we are today if it wasn't for the trials we faced as a family, we are so lucky that we had each other and my grandmother who carried us through the darkest days of our lives.
Thank you for reading, donating and riding!
Go Wheels!
