The Story

A very HAPPY SUMMER to you and yours! Welcome to the journey of Team Hughes!

Last August, the month of my 28th birthday, I bought myself a birthday card. A simple gesture, but ultimately, a powerful one. For on that card appears a quote and in that quote lies a challenge. Simply stated, “It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search—but rather life lived to the edge of all my possibility.”
With that quote as the foundation, it has been an amazingly memorable year taking me from Oregon to Colorado to the Dominican Republic and back home to the Midwest. But as this 28th year comes to a close, I am about to embark upon a journey that will redefine “the edge of all my possibility.” A journey that will take me from one side of our nation to the other, from the Pacific to the Atlantic...a solo, supported cross-country bike ride. Yes, you read correctly—a solo, supported cross-country bike ride. Let me break it down for you. Solo as in “me, myself, and I” will be riding. Supported by my fabulous mother who will be driving the support vehicle (Happy Retirement, Mom!). Cross-country bike ride spanning 4,000+ miles along the northern border of the United States from Anacortes, WA to Bar Harbor, ME.
In retrospect, the dream to ride cross-country really began at the ripe, old age of 4, when I learned to ride my pink and purple banana seat bike. As a child, I longed for the freedom to ride my bike outside of the neighborhood, most notably across a major highway and four miles through town to the pool…a bit ambitious for a 2nd grader. As I evolved from a banana seat bike to a 10 speed, from a mountain bike to a duo sport and finally a road bike, the ambitious dreams continued to evolve proportionately as well. Three years ago at the close of my residency year, a friend and I completed our first touring bike ride from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, DC and immediately added the dream of biking cross-country to the life list. So this summer, after my third RAGBRAI (the bike ride across Iowa), the pipe dream is about to become a reality!
Yet, there is still something missing. Because this isn’t really about a bike ride, it’s about testing my physical, emotional, and spiritual limits through sport and nature and about following a dream into fruition. But “sometimes the best way to live your dream is to help others live theirs” (No Opportunity Wasted). And thus, this ride isn’t really about me either. It’s about an ambitious dream that grew into an organization that serves an underrepresented and underserved population. It’s about young adults with cancer. It’s about First Descents.
Young adulthood, my current demographic, is a unique time in life—a time to leave the nest, to test the waters, to go to college, to find a job, to gain financial independence, to date, to marry, to start a family, to discover and define oneself in the context of adulthood. A time with innate challenges leading to abundant rewards. But in this year alone, 75,000 young adults in the prime of their life will face another set of challenges. Challenges not commonly associated with young adulthood—pain, fear, mortality, illness, dependency, isolation. 75,000 young adults in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer, joining the fastest growing demographic with the lowest increase in survival rate since 1975 as compared to the younger and older cancer populations. This ride isn’t about me; it’s about 1.4 million young adults living with cancer in the U.S. It’s about the strength, the determination, the passion, and the perspective that my unsung heroes have shared with me.
It’s about First Descents—a Colorado-based non-profit organization—that provides outdoor adventure therapy for young adults with cancer. First Descents utilizes the sports of whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, and mountaineering against the backdrop of the great outdoors, providing organic experiences to connect a disconnected group of individuals. Through these organic challenges, participants have the opportunity to crush the illusion that they are fragile due to their cancer diagnosis and prove that they are stronger because of it. First Descents provides the medium to foster psychosocial change in young adults resulting in improved self-confidence and quality of life. Founded by professional kayaker, Brad Ludden, First Descents began in 2001 as one week-long kayak camp for ten young adults in Vail, CO. This summer—its 10th anniversary—First Descents is hosting 15 free week-long kayaking and rock climbing camps across four states serving 225 participants…and the need continues to grow.
To further encourage positive growth in young adults, I am dedicating this bike ride—this journey—to increasing awareness about the problem that is young adult cancer and supporting the cause that is First Descents. And I invite you to join me on this journey as well. Become a part of this adventure by directly donating to First Descents via my fundraising page and/or by supporting and blessing this journey in your thoughts and prayers. While I anticipate this quest will last until October, I ask that you please show your greatest support throughout the month of August—the month of my birthday, as well as, the month of multiple mountain ranges in the first 900 miles (Ouch!). Ready, set, donate. For every $1000 we raise, a young adult with cancer is given a second chance at life. GAME ON!
Thank you a million times over for being a part of this incredible adventure and for your support of young adults with cancer and First Descents. I also want to personally invite you to track the progress of the journey by following our blog at http://teamhughesblog.blogspot.com. The joy is in the journey!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Cheers!



Mary Hughes

To learn more about First Descents, visit their website: www.firstdescents.com.
To follow the progress of the journey, log on to: http://teamhughesblog.blogspot.com.
To donate online, visit my page: http://teamfd.firstdescents.org/2010/fd/hughes/mary/.
To donate by mail: send checks payable to First Descents (memo: Mary Hughes) to
First Descents, 6000 Greenwood Plaza Blvd, Suite 120, Greenwood Village, CO 80111.