About Me

Profile

About:

My name is Christina Nicole Ibarra. I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and am blessed to have two very loving, hard-working parents and two beautiful sisters. I come from a Hispanic family who has battled many hardships and came from very little education or means but persevered, and I wouldn't be where I am today without them. I am proud of who I am and where I come from, and strive to make my family proud in everything I do.

If there's anything I've learned in life and if there's anything you should know about what I believe, it's that everything happens for a reason. I credit that phrase for any amount of strength, wisdom and faith that I have.

Why I Ride

In February of 2007, my mother was diagnosed with Type B Cell Lymphoma. I am the kind of person who regrets nothing, but the way I lived my life from the time she was diagnosed to the time she went into remission is the only regret I have. I was a scared, insecure teenager in denial, and in efforts to live out my high school years as normally as possible, I could not face the seriousness of the situation or even say it out loud- my mother had cancer. I tuned it out and told myself and anyone who asked that everything would be fine. No matter the struggles of hair loss, pain or fatigue my mother dealt with, she never stopped smiling and finding joy in everyday life- an example I try to live out today. I knew I could have done more to ease the pain on my family, but I just wanted to numb the pain I felt, because any sort of change I made would be acceptance. It wasn't until she told me she had gone into remission 2.5 years later that it really hit me. How could I be living my life this way and not doing anything in the fight against cancer? I learned from this, and when I heard about Texas 4000 upon entering UT Austin, I knew it was something I had to do in honor of my mother and our loved ones who'd also battled the disease.

Most of you know I'm not a seasoned cyclist- in fact, I didn't learn to ride a bike until my freshmen year of college, thanks to the help of some friends. This ride will be the most physically challenging thing I've ever done, but it's an obstacle I will gladly and gratefully face for the cause of cancer. My dream is to live in a cancer free world, and I've found through this organization that I can provide hope, knowledge, and charity, and make a difference in the fight against cancer. I believe that if I can inspire even one person with what my team and I are doing, we'll be one step closer to finding a cure. This is why I ride.

Nancy Ibarra
John Paul Rodriguez (Sr.)
John Paul Rodriguez (Jr.)
Santos Garcia
Hector Alonso
Ruben Estrada (Sr.)
Ruben Estrada (Jr.)
Tammy Dempsey
Tom Schutze
Robert Newman
Rick Rouse
Michael Laursen
Paul Chalhoub