A 59-year-old Topeka man is undertaking a 350-mile bike ride to help raise money for two children with cancer.

Eric Nordgren said he considered not going through with his eighth annual Sunflowers-to-Roses cancer fundraiser, a 350-mile, nonstop bike ride through northeast Kansas.

But Nordgren told The Topeka Capital-Journal he changed his mind after he reviewed the stories of the two young cancer patients he’s supporting with this year’s ride’s proceeds: 6-year-old Karis Selk and 3-year-old Londyn Hibbert. Nordgren says the children and their families had endured more than he could even imagine in their ongoing battles against cancer.

Nordgren holds the ride each year in honor of his parents and parents-in-law, who all had cancer and two of whom died from cancer.

His 2013 ride starts Monday in Topeka.