Hi! I’m Cecilia (Cece) Smith, I’m from Edmonds, Washington (but currently based out of Fort Collins, Colorado). Since announcing that I was going to be part of Pedal the Pacific’s 10th team, people have asked me why I decided to ride 1,700 miles from Seattle to San Diego with this organization.
My short answer is pretty simple: because I care deeply about the cause and because I can.
However, when I’m not short on time, my more nuanced and personal answer is:
I ride because community changes lives.
I ride because freedom is something no person should ever have stolen from them.
I ride because using bikes as a tool for advocacy is something that links a passion of mine to a profound purpose that is so much bigger than me as an individual.
And I ride because there are people whose voices deserve to be heard louder than my own.
My academic background is in public health. I earned my MPH in December 2025, and through both my education and my work in the county where I live, I’ve learned how profoundly inequitable access to resources shapes people’s lives. Public health is about more than preventing disease, it’s about cultivating communities where people are safe, supported, and able to thrive.
During graduate school, I first began learning about sex trafficking and exploitation through some of my coursework. But the issue became deeply real to me during the final semester of my Master’s program in Fall 2025, when I met a woman in one of my nutrition classes who introduced me to PTP (shout out to Ally Tripure, our Training and Gear Officer!). She shared how the organization uses cycling as a platform to empower women and raise awareness in the fight against sex trafficking. The more I learned about this organization and how the women here fight against the issue of domestic sex trafficking, the more strongly I knew I wanted to be part of it. So I applied to ride for the 2026 team. And now, here I am, embarking on the biggest journey of my life so far with 9 other women who are remarkably bright, strong, and as passionate about protecting their communities as I am!
One of the things public health has taught me is that issues like trafficking do not impact individuals within our communities in a proportionate way. In school, we learn about the social determinants of health, and how these aspects impact one’s risks relating to their health. Social determinants of health like poverty, housing instability, lack of access to healthcare, discrimination, adverse childhood experiences and trauma, and social isolation create conditions that increase vulnerability to exploitation. Like many other public health crises, trafficking is not random. It exists where our systems fail people. Trafficking is a devastating public health crisis in the United States.
That reality can feel overwhelming. But I also believe something equally powerful:
Community is everything. We have the power to protect people around us, to recognize when something is wrong, and to bring awareness to the issues that are impacting our neighbors and the people we care about.
I have always loved bikes. When I was in sixth grade, my dad and I, alongside several other parents and kids, started a mountain bike team in our community (the Edmonds Mountain Bike team, which still provides kids from 6th grade - 12th grade the opportunity to race mountain bikes and meet others across the state in the Washington Student Cycling League!). The sense of belonging I experienced through cycling with this team shaped me in ways I still carry today. The racing was fun, of course, but what mattered most was the encouragement, support, and connection that existed within that community. It taught me that people are capable of extraordinary things when they show up for one another.
Community is everything. We have the power to protect people around us, to recognize when something is wrong, and to bring awareness to the issues that are impacting our neighbors and the people we care about.
That lesson became even more meaningful when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 15. At the time, I loved running, mountain biking, and being outside and the diagnosis felt devastating. Type 1 diabetes has no cure, and receiving the diagnosis made everything about my future felt uncertain. I remember feeling like my world was ending and wondering whether I would still be able to do the things that made me feel alive and free. Coming to terms with that diagnosis took a long time (to be honest, even 8 years later there are still days where I struggle both physically and mentally). It changed my relationship with my body, my routines, and my understanding of health. It also showed me what it means to have people who are looking out for you. But over time, it also taught me something I will never forget: the ability to have the resources you need to live, thrive, and move through the world freely should not be taken for granted.
The ability to wake up and go for a run.
To ride a bike.
To choose where you go.
To have autonomy over your own body and future.
To have the people in your life who support you.
Those are freedoms that many people experiencing sex trafficking do not have.
This is WHO I am riding for.
I am not doing this ride because I love bikes.
I am not doing this because I want to prove something.
I am not doing this ride because I love bikes.
I am not doing this because I want to prove something.
But because there are girls who are otherwise just like me whose freedom has been stripped away. People whose humanity has been reduced to something bought and sold. People who deserve safety, dignity, healing, and hope.
I ride because I can. Freedom to move, to have the resources you need to truly thrive and flourish, and to pursue your passions should not be privileges achieved by having certain socio-economic status, where you live, what you look like, or who you are. These “freedoms” should be innate. It’s promised in this country’s Declaration of Independence, and we cannot forget that the fight for these inalienable rights has not been accomplished for many of the people in this country.
I have the privilege of using my voice. I have the opportunity to spend weeks crossing 1,700 miles with an incredible team. I have a body that is strong enough to carry me through this challenge.
Many people affected by trafficking do not have the ability to safely use their voices. So I want to use mine to amplify theirs. If this ride allows me to make even a small difference, to raise awareness, to help someone recognize signs of exploitation, to inspire people to protect those around them, or to encourage deeper compassion within our communities, then every mile will be worth it.
Because creating a future where no one is for sale starts with people who are willing to care. And, I hope to make real change within the communities I am a part of because the most profound changes must start on a local level — where we can look for each other. As I’ve said before, community is everything. I ride for the people in my community.
