When bicyclists begin their daunting 130-mile ride through the Pioneer Mountains on June 29, the late David Sobba will be on the minds of many.

More than 40 of the participants in this year’s Ride Around The Pioneers in One Day — RATPOD — will ride as Team Sobba in memory of the Whitefish surgeon who died of cancer in January.

Sobba was a faithful supporter of RATPOD, founded in 2002 to benefit Camp Mak-A-Dream, a nonprofit that provides cost-free programs for children, young adults and families affected by cancer. The push is on by Team Sobba to raise a record amount of money for the camp.

“David was passionate about this cause,” Sobba’s sister, Anne Sobba-Higley, said. “It has been truly life-changing to be involved in this great cause and I know that he is smiling up there with all the efforts to ‘knock the ball out of the park’ as far as fundraising.

“He was a bright shining star and made such an impact on so many that we just want to make his legacy go on,” she said.

This year the RATPOD fundraising trophy will be named after Sobba, who holds the distinction of being the all-time top fundraiser for the event. Team Sobba hopes to top $20,000.

Among the members of Team Sobba are many of Sobba’s immediate family members and a wide array of friends.

“The number of people my brother touched is amazing and we are seeing it in the outpouring of support for RATPOD and Camp Mak-a-Dream,” Sobba-Higley said.

Sobba continued to ride in RATPOD for years after he was diagnosed in 2004 with a slow-growing form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

In an interview with the Daily Inter Lake in 2008, Sobba spoke candidly about his cancer and his frustration with his doctors’ wait-and-see approach to treating it.

“I’m a surgeon. I cut things open,” he said, explaining his impulse for wanting to take immediate action and get immediate results.

“When I did chemo the first time I was pissed off and out to prove I could still keep going,” he said in 2008, recalling his first round of treatment. “I climbed Big Mountain and then went golfing. Then I was hospitalized because I was too dehydrated. This time I’m trying to be a little gentler. I’m allowing my body to take care of itself.

“As a physician, you’re so used to giving and taking care of people. It was hard to learn to accept help,” he confided.

By 2006 tests showed Sobba’s cancer had undergone a Richter transformation, a condition in which the small cells mutate to larger cells and a fast-growing aggressive form of cancer. Nevertheless, Sobba continued an active lifestyle and maintained his medical practice as long as he was able.

In the end, his family said Sobba insisted his cancer was a blessing that both challenged and healed him spiritually.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.