John Cash is fighting a war against cancer, the disease that claimed the lives of both his parents, and of his sister.

“I would love to see cancer cured in my lifetime,” proclaimed the Landrum resident, who, with his wife Diane, owns Nature’s Storehouse, a health food and natural supplement store in Tryon.

Since 2009, Cash has backed up his words with his annual Climb to Conquer Cancer bicycle rides in Polk County, to the tune of raising over $60,000 for the Gibbs Cancer Center’s Survivorship Program in Spartanburg. Gibbs is completing a similar facility in Greer.

This year’s Climb to Conquer Cancer, set for Saturday, April 29, will feature 10 trips up and down the famous Saluda Grade on U.S. Hwy. 176. Each “lap” from Tryon gains some 1,000 feet of elevation, or some 10,000 feet of elevation total, and over 80 miles, for the maximum 10 round trips that Cash and some others will ride.

This year’s ride will begin outside Caro Mi Dining Room. Former professional cycling racers George and Rich Hincapie have indicated they’ll ride with Cash and others. Expect other current or former pro cyclists to also ride.

Riders should arrive on site between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m., with clip-in at 8. Donations, made to Gibbs Cancer Center Survivorship Program, can be dropped off at the ride site, or at Nature’s Storehouse, 427 South Trade Street, Tryon, or mailed to the store. Donors need not participate in the ride, but all riders are encouraged to join.

Cash notes that early screening by Gibbs Cancer Center is responsible for high survival rates from various types of cancer in this region.

For more information, call John Cash at 828-859-6356.