The last four of five years have been some of the hardest years of my life.  I have had to watch some loved ones of mine go through very tough trials and have felt helpless watching them deal with it and not being able to help. Well, I have decided to do something to help them. No, I can't take their problems away, but I can do something to help make things easier. I have decided to do my most epic bicycle ride ever to help raise money for my heroes.

ON SEPTEMBER 25TH AND 26TH I WILL GET ON MY BICYCLE AT THE BORDER OF IDAHO AND UTAH AND NOT STOP UNTIL I REACH ARIZONA. ABOUT 400 MILES OF RIDING IN TOTAL. MY KDS AND I HAVE NAMED THIS RIDE SNUB2B HERO RIDE (SNOW UTAH BORDER TO BORDER).  I WILL RIDE THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO THE NEXT DAY TO COMPLETE THIS JOURNEY.

The word hero means different things to different people. I'm going to share four stories of people that I consider my heroes. They don't wear capes, they don't rush into burning buildings or face down dangerous criminals...but they are heroes nonetheless, because to me a hero is someone that faces incredible trials and circumstances and never quits. 

My son is Kenyon Snow. Many of you know him as a fun-loving and funny guy and he has always had a lot of Charisma ever since he was a little kid. Right out of High School he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis which is a serious disease of the bowels. In the past 5 years He has had to undergo 4 different surgeries and one of the surgeries he had his colon removed and has some serious complications from the surgeries, some of them even life threatening where it was touch and go on if he would survive. Thankfully, he has survived and is still recovering physically and mentally from this ordeal. I can't imagine what he goes through mentally being only 25 years old and having had to go through so much in those years that should have been some of the best of his life. During the time he has had these surgeries he has lost two jobs because of the health problems. Kenyon has gone through these struggles and yet he gets up and fights every day to make things better and to make his life the best he can. With all the surgeries and medical costs, he and his wife have accumulated some pretty hefty bills as one would expect. I'm going to raise money to help him and his wife be able to continue their schooling and to help ease the economic burden that was placed on them.

I have a very close friend that was diagnosed a while ago with stomach cancer. My friend has been fighting a courageous battle. My friend was a single parent and raised four children and has two grandchildren. Unfortunately, my friend has not been able to work for the past few months and you can imagine the bills that pile up.   My friend continues to work hard to fight this horrible disease. The treatment is very rough and hard on the body to where even getting out of bed is difficult. I want to help alleviate the financial burden for my friend so I will also be riding for this friend

A couple years ago, my daughter talked to me about something no parent ever wants to hear. She told me that she had been sexually assaulted by a friend of hers. It broke my heart to hear this and to see the emotional scars that have been left behind. But, her struggles and battle with traumatic stress issues and the mental anguish she has gone through have made her a hero. She has worked very hard to overcome these challenges and today is still fighting to battle the demons caused by this terrible act. She has grown so much the past couple years and I'm extremely proud of her. I'm going to ride to help raise money for her to continue her fight through this and to help her with the expenses that have accrued for the medical treatment. 

A couple months ago my young cousin McCall Smith was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is the mother on young daughter and loving wife. She has started doing chemo treatment to fight the disease. Her young family is struggling to fight this battle and the financial issues that come with it. She comes from a great family that is always willing to help others and now it's our turn to help her back. I'm sure McCall isn't probably going to be too happy that I'm including her in this, but I did get your mom's permission McCall and I'm more scared of her, just saying 😊. 

In 1998 I was on duty as a police officer and was involved in a motor vehicle accident where I was rear-ended at over 50 mph by a drunk driver. I have had numerous back and neck problems since that time. I was told by doctors back then to stop running and to ride a bike instead. I fell in love with riding and have been doing so for the last 23 years.  I have been on some great adventures on my bike. In 2015, I finally succumbed to my lower back pain and lost feeling in my legs so surgery was necessary and I had my back fused by the best doctor, thank you Doctor John Edwards and the staff at Summit Brain and Spine, you have literally given me my life back. You get a double thumbs up! If any of you need to see a back or spine doctor go see the staff at Summit Brain and Spine https://www.summitbrainandspine.com/ .

Double Thumbs Up Cycling. When I was a Police Officer and my kids were still very young, they hated it when I had to leave to go to work. One day as I was leaving to go to work, my son Kenyon, with tears in his eyes smiled at me and gave me a Double Thumbs Up gesture and a smile and told me to have a good day. Marley was very young then but from then on she and Kenyon would both give me a Double Thumbs Up and a smile as I left for work. The Double Thumbs Up has since been a sign with our family of being strong and never giving up. We use it all the time to help each other remember the mind set of being strong and fighting through our struggles daily with a smile on our face. 

Thanks for your support in this effort to help my heroes.