At 9:30 a.m. on Fourth of July a bike ride will depart Santa Rosa from Fifth and B Streets and continue on to Seattle to promote awareness and raise money for histiocytosis, a rare blood disease that mostly affects children.
The Wheels North ride recreates the epic 1909 adventure of two young riders: Santa Rosa, California, to Seattle, Washington, by bicycle. The book “Two Wheels North:1909 The Original Adventure,” by Evelyn McDaniel Gibb captures the story for readers young and old.
Dawn Kruetzfeldt of Santa Rosa is passionate about fighting this disease. Her daughter was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis in Jan. 2007.
“She was one of the lucky ones. She only had a single-site tumor, but its location was a doozy,” said Kruetzfeldt.
Her daughter’s tumor was right where her spine connects to her skull.
“We were extremely fortunate in that it was caught prior to a full collapse of the vertebrae, and before it could sever her spinal cord.”
Histiocytosis affects 1 in 200,000 children. To learn more about histiocytosis go online to www.histio.org. To learn more about the Wheels North Bike Ride to go www.wheelsnorth.org.