The following is Jeff’s letter of intent for this year’s Ride from Reno. Each year, Jeff writes a letter to friends and family inviting them to support him by giving generously to help him meet his fundraising goal for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a leading cancer treatment and research facility. Huntsman is working hard to find better treatments and cures for many forms of cancer.

Dear family and friends,

I am writing to announce my 7^th annual Ride From Reno for Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and, once again, I’m asking that you open your purse or wallet and take out your checkbook, credit or debit card, and make a generous donation to HCI.

It’s hard to believe this will be the 7^th time I will have done this ride; after this year’s event I will have pedaled 4,669 miles between Salt Lake City and Reno, Nevada.  Factoring in all the training miles I’ve accumulated each year, I’ve ridden between 80K and 90K miles over those 7 years.  All the more incredible when you consider I should be dead.  Had I been diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell H&N cancer most anywhere else in the country I probably wouldn’t be around, asking you today to make a donation to HCI.  I was, however, blessed to receive treatment from a tremendously talented and compassionate physician, Dr. Gordon Watson, and his Team at HCI.  All leading edge stuff which, when it was over, returned me to a quality of life worth living.  So many others, in situations similar to mine, aren’t nearly as fortunate.

And that’s why I do this ride each year for HCI.  Treating cancer with current treatment protocols isn’t enough.  People still die everyday, not just from cancer, but from cancer treatment.  The need is urgent to find better tolerated, less toxic treatments for this disease.  Equally as urgent is the need to find cures for the >150 types of cancer.  And those needs are what HCI focuses on each day.  Discoveries made at HCI are cascaded across the world, improving outcomes for those currently undergoing treatment and those yet to be diagnosed.  Statistics for cancer are a grim reminder of reality:  1 out of 3 women and 1 out of 2 men will have cancer in their lifetime.  More than 1.3 million Americans will be diagnosed this year and nearly 570,000 will succumb to the disease.  If cancer hasn’t yet impacted your family, it’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when.  And so I do this ride each year with the knowledge that together we can make a difference.

Nearly every year I’ve done this ride I’ve mentioned people who’ve touched my life through their battles with cancer.  This year I’ll mention two.  Bryce Brown, age 33, a wonderful husband to Tammy and a terrific dad to 9-month-old Dani, lost his struggle with melanoma (mela-SUCKA-nomaas he referred to it!) last October.  A kind, gentle, and passionate man, all the world lost a friend with Bryce’s passing.

Becky McKenzie, age 44, was a terrific friend (she was a Kindergarten teacher and working withyoung children each day better prepared her for dealing with me).  We rode together as members of Bountiful Mazda Cycling Club and while she wasn’t the fastest in the paceline, she certainly was one of the most determined.  Becky lost her battle with metastatic breast cancer in February.  Vibrant, energetic, fun-loving, Becky lit up any room she entered.

With the passing of these two friends, my resolve is reinforced to do my part to insure no family in the future has to endure the suffering felt by Bryce’s and Becky’s.  In fact, it just ticks me off that in 2008 families are still being torn apart by the mutant cells we call cancer.  Enough of this madness!  As Bryce said, “We’re killing cancer – like salt on slugs,” but it’s just not happening fast enough.

And so, in the hope that together we can make a real difference in the lives of real people, I am asking for your financial support for the 2008 Ride From Reno.  Here’s the deal:  My brother, Coleman, his son-in-law, Chris, our brother-in-law, Mike Nelson, friends Joe Plater, Larry Peterson, and I will begin our 667 mile ride from Reno on Monday, June 9^th, and will conclude on Saturday, June 14^that HCI in Salt Lake City, Utah.  With help from my Dad, we pay our own expenses and take valuable vacation time away from our jobs and families.  Not one penny you send goes to support any portion of the ride’s logistics.  This may be the only event in the country where 100% of every cent goes directly where it’s intended.  No overhead or G&A come off the top.  Isn’t that the way it should be?

Please be generous in your contributions.  Checks should be made payable to Huntsman Cancer Foundationand mailed to me at 147 East 400 South, Centerville, Utah, 84014.   Donations can also be made online at www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org.  If you choose online giving, please include “Jeff Warren’s Ride From Reno” in the comments area.  I’d appreciate it if you would send your donations in time for me to present them to Huntsman Cancer Institute by June 30^th.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a huge shout out to Glenn Beck from CNN fame.  In December Glenn interviewed Jon Huntsman, philanthropist extraordinaire and founder of Huntsman Cancer Institute, and during that interview Glenn committed to donate $10 per mile for each mile of this year’s ride.  In other words, he’s committed $6,670!  My good friend Carl Snyder gave me a quick course on Glenn (I’m sorry to say before the interview I didn’t know who Glenn was – I lead a sheltered existence!) and I learned what a sick and twisted freak Glenn is.  He’s also a man of kindness, compassion, and boundless generosity.  Thank you, Glenn, for helping make a difference.

Please check out my website to follow us along on this year’s ride.  My brother, Derek, and his good friend and Web-guru Jared Butterfield have reworked the site making it, by light-years, the best yet.  There will be daily updates, photos, and a Guestbook where you can leave messages of encouragement.  Trust me, after riding >125 miles each day, we need your messages of encouragement and support!  Please be a frequent visitor to www.ikickedcancersbutt.org.

Once again, I will be carrying in my seat-pack a list of names of people who have (or have had) cancer.  It’s a way of sending a message to this freakin’ disease that we’ll never forget those who’ve fought the valiant fight, and also my way of honoring those with whom I feel a very special camaraderie.  Whether you’re able to donate or not, if you’d like me to carry the name(s) of your family member or friend, I’d be honored to do so and consider it a sacred trust.  Please forward your names to me.  E-mail is fine.  If you’ve submitted names in the past, they’ll continue to remain on my list from previous year’s Rides.

This year’s ride will be specifically dedicated to the memory of Bryce and Becky.  Each of them made a difference in the world and I am saddened at their passing.  Bryce, I wish I could do this in a Porsche for you, but it’s not quite within my budget and I wouldn’t look nearly as good behind the wheel as you would.  Becky, I know you’ll love every minute of this sufferfest.  On the big chain-ring, of course.

I’ll also be dedicating this year’s ride to a great friend who, thankfully, is still with us.  Ron Nehringand I are somewhat like mirror-images of cancer treatment; bothtreated by Dr. Gordon Watson, with similar drugs, and similar radiation and chemo protocols.  We’re also a bit like Arnold and Danny from the movie “Twins,” except I’m the one with the brains.  Ron is, hands down, the toughest man I know and, in all seriousness, one of the very brightest.  Five years following the successful completion of his treatment he suffered a vascular complication which was a direct by-product of treatment.  That’s the way cancer and its’ treatment is.  It may save you today, but nearly kill you years later.  Like I said earlier, we need better tolerated and less toxic treatments for cancer!  Ron rode the final leg of last year’s ride with me and was planning on this year as well.  Looks as though we’ll need to look forward to 2009, my friend.  Just know that the week of June 9^th you’ll be in my thoughts, and I’ll especially miss you on the 14^th.  Perhaps we can get Gordon to come out and represent you!

So, that’s the scoop.  If you’d like to ride the final day with us (Delta to Salt Lake City), or a portion of the final leg, please check www.ikickedcancersbutt.org for our route.

My thanks to each of you for all your kindness to me and to my family.  We are humbled to know each of you and to call you friends.

Kindest regards,

Jeff Warren

P.S.  When you get home from the office this evening, hug your spouse a little longer and harder, play with the children a little more enthusiastically, call your Mom and Dad and tell them how proud you are to be their son or daughter, or call your children and tell them how proud you are to call them yours.  We put off to many important things until tomorrow, and none of us know how many tomorrows we have left.