I'm in my third year of graduate school in UT's College of Communications.

I started bicycle touring in high school when my church youth group took a trip on the Sugar River Trail in Wisconsin. I rode my first half-century at Joshua Tree in Southern California, and my first long solo trip was across Puget Sound and the Olympic Penninsula in Washington. Last summer I realized a life-long dream and rode solo from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico along the Pacific Coast.

Although my grandmother Mildred Petzinger died of cancer when I was 10 years old, I have been told that she had a great spirit of adventure. She drove a Model A Ford solo from Iowa to California in the 1920s when she was still in her twenties. Every photograph I have seen of her shows an optimistic smile that says "I love life." Stories of my grandmother's solo trip gave me the confidence to complete my solo bicycle journey. Whenever I thought my trip was rough, I'd imagine her in the middle of nowhere, before there were freeways or cell phones, braving the world and trusting that she would be okay.

When I heard the University of Texas was sponsoring a bicycle trip from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska that would benefit The American Cancer Society, I immediately thought of my grandmother. I have decided that I will join them and spend two months on a bicycle riding over 4000 miles to provide hope for cancer victims. I will take my grandmother's adventuresome spirit, pass it on to others, and she will live on in their inspiration-- in their love for life.

Riding a bicycle from Texas to Alaska will be a minor challenge compared to that of overcoming a life-threatening disease. I don't take my health for granted. The fact that I am able do it and that I will do it, is proof that finding a cure for cancer is a worthwhile pursuit. Please join me and the memory of my Grandma Petzinger as we make this journey-- not solo this time, but with each other-- to help bring hope and inspiration to people and families nationwide.

Check out my website: www.stumbly.com