Brenda Elsagher sees three strikes against her chances of completing a 210-mile charity bicycle ride.

“My knees are bad, and I’m too fat and too old,” said the 49-year-old Burnsville resident. “But I am good-looking, and I do have a good sense of humor. So that will get me through.”

Her colostomy bag is nothing compared with the other handicaps, said Elsagher, who began training last year for the Get Your Guts in Gear ride Aug. 18 to 20 in Seattle, Wash.

A colorectal cancer survivor, Elsagher is trying to raise $7,500 in pledges for the three-day ride, whose goal is to raise awareness of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Elsagher was inspired to join the ride after attending an ostomy conference in California and hearing Get Your Guts in Gear founder Judith Pacitti speak.

At the same conference, Elsagher interviewed 40 ostomates for her second book, “I’d Like to Buy a Bowel Please! Ostomy A to Z,” which will be released May 15.

The title’s humor reflects Elsagher’s approach to beating cancer and living with the consequences, which in her case was removal of her rectum.

Since those events 11 years ago, Elsagher has flourished as a stand-up comic, motivational speaker and author.

To raise money for the Get Your Guts in Gear ride, Elsagher is holding a comedy show Friday, May 19 at 8 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. She’ll be joined by fellow comics Maxine Jeffris, Rox Tarrant and Scott Novotny, and singer Chrissy Becker. Tickets for “Comics for a Cause” are $17 in advance or $20 at the door.

“It’s not like cancer gave me gifts,” said Elsagher, who owns the Alpha Hair Salon in Bloomington, “but how I reacted to cancer brought out creative sides of me I didn’t know.”

A longtime fan of stand-up comedy, Elsagher had pledged she’d give it a try by age 40. With the deadline closing in, she experienced discomfort that a doctor immediately diagnosed as more than inflammation of her hemorrhoids.

It was a golf-ball-size tumor, which was surgically removed without the need for chemotherapy or radiation. A hysterectomy, vaginal reconstruction and removal of the rectum came with the deal.

“You know how they say that when God closes a door he opens a window? Well, I have a window,” Elsagher cracked.

During her recuperation Elsagher was reminded by one of her sisters of her comedy goal.

The self-reflection brought on by a brush with cancer, as well as her new colostomy, provided good raw material.

“Living with a colostomy is not bad,” said Elsagher, who has two teenage children with her husband, Bahgat. “I just can’t find shoes to match my bag.”

She began working out at the Acme Comedy Club, and in 1996 won the Minneapolis club’s Funniest Person in the Twin Cities contest for amateurs.

Her inspirational cancer comedy has led to speaking engagements across the country. Churches, nurses’ groups, survivor groups and cancer centers are among the organizations that have hired her.

Attending the colostomy conference opened Elsagher’s eyes to others’ experiences. Cancer is the No. 1 reason people get colostomies, followed by Crohn’s and colitis, she said.

“I had colon cancer, which was bad enough,” she said. “But at the end of those 40 interviews in California, I was relieved I just had colorectal cancer. ... My world of bowel problems started expanding greatly in California.”

Meanwhile, Elsagher is building her stamina for the 210-mile ride. She can be seen periodically trying to climb the hill on Upton Avenue near her home.

“If I can ride up Upton,” she said, “I think I’ll be ready for Seattle.”

For reservations for Comics for a Cause,” call (952) 882-0154.

John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.