reporter: the two are raising money to fight als, also known as lou gehrig's disease in honor of carla zilbersmith >> she never shied away from anything. this is a big thing to ride 100 miles. , a ls is a lot harder than riding 100 miles. we want to do it in honor of her. >> reporter: she first revealed her diagnosis to a live audience in 2008. >> i was diagnosed with lou gehrig's disease, which sucks because i hate baseball. [ laughter ] >> reporter: we this year her earlier this year when she was launching an als fundraising effort am her own, convincing fellow als patients to pose for this movie themed calendar. >> they need lots of money for research. >> reporter: she lost her battle with als in may. >> there is two hills, but nothing too drastic. >> reporter: that's when jennifer and alexa, who had been her care giver, decided to create team carla, along with two friends that will attempt to complete the ride to defeat als which winds through the napa valley in september. it's the largest fund-raiser of its kind in northern california and team carla already has pledges of several thousands do