Father and Daughter duo biking the coast to raise money for pediatric cancer

A father and daughter duo are riding their bikes more than 1,500 miles, all for a great cause.

Katelyn and Jerad Cardoza started biking 20 days ago in Victoria, Canada. They are headed for Tijuana, Mexico.

Now, they’re more than half way there. “We just finished 11 hundred miles, we still have about 550-600 miles left to go,” says Jerad Cardoza.

On Sunday they made a stop at the Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz for Katelyn’s 14th birthday, and Father’s Day.

Jerad says, “we’ve been averaging 57 miles a day for the last 20 days and that’s with some really tough conditions with a lot of weight on our bikes as well.”

Katelyn recently learned the ropes of road biking, she says the hills have been the biggest challenge, “it was hard in the beginning because I wasn’t used to going up hill, down hill, up hill, downhill, my legs were all sore, but now because I’ve gotten used to it my legs aren’t as sore anymore.”

The ride, is an accomplishment on it’s own, but the reasoning behind it makes it that much better.

“First he wanted to do this for fun, like as a bucket list, and he wanted me to do it and i’m up for anything so I decided to do it with him and I decided, let’s do it for a cause so I decided, let’s do it for cancer,” says Katelyn.

She tells KION, their inspiration is personal, “my sisters boyfriend had cancer when he was a senior in high school and every time I would see him I would see him in pain and he was super sick and it made me sad.”

The two have faced strong head winds and uphill battles, but their motivation is stronger. “Together as a team we’ve raised close to 20 thousand dollars, we’re always trying to get more and we have a couple weeks left to do it. That’s really been the biggest motivator for us as we’ve gone down the coast is to try to raise money for these kids.”

Out of 40,000 people raising money for pediatric cancer in the Country, Katleyn is among the top two earners.

The two say this trip, despite the hardships is making them closer than ever. “I think we’re a lot closer now, I’ve learned so much about him.”

“I get to help her understand what the world is about. As we pass through certain landmarks, being able to explain the history of them. We’ve certainly become a lot closer because of this,” says Jerad.

To donate or learn more about the Cardoza’s trip you can visit their blog by clicking here or visit Katelyn’s cycle website by clicking here.