In 2003, our daughter Suzannah was born with Spina Bifida. She had Myelomeningocele (Meningomyelocele) which is the most severe form of Spina Bifida. This was unexpected and we knew nothing about this birth defect prior to her diagnosis. As Suzannah underwent multiple surgeries in her first two weeks of life to address her spine as well as hydrocephalus, we were directed to Spina Bifida Texas (SBTX), a non-profit based in San Antonio. They were a wealth of information and support. They reassured us that we were going be OK because they had been through same thing. Suzannah thrived throughout the years and SBTX was continually a great resource for networking with other families, doctors, entities like Texas Para Sport and others.

As Suzannah got a little older, Casey became involved in the hobby of road cycling. He later became president of Team McAllen Cycling (TMC), a local cycling club in the Rio Grande Valley. In 2010, Casey and TMC decided to start a cycling event to fundraise for SBTX and the Spina Bifida community to give back to a resource that was so supportive of Suzannah and the entire Swanson family. There was one caveat, the ride needed to be challenging, to represent some of the struggles that Spina Bifida families face so we picked the last weekend of June. It is hot, really hot in south Texas in the summer. And just like that the SB250 was born. McAllen to San Antonio in two days on your bicycle.

The SB250 ran under Team McAllen Cycling for many years until the cycling club disbanded. Suzannah Smiles was created in 2017 to continue the tradition of the SB250 and to continue the support of SBTX. In 2022, we added our second event, Shred de Roots (SdR) to our schedule. SdR is a mountain bike race held at Huntsville, Texas as part of the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association.

The SB250 continues to grow and adding Shred de Roots has allowed us to take new steps in supporting the Spina Bifida community beyond our support of SBTX. Exciting days are ahead as we look to empower people impacted by spina bifida to live a barrier free life.