The JourneyI haven't written much about the journey I am taking this summer, but I am embarking on a trip of a lifetime in only one, short month. Starting June 1st, I am cycling from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR with a team of 29 college-aged riders to support young adults with cancer. We will be riding 70 days and arriving in Portland on August 9th. This ride is organized annually by the incredible organization, 4K for Cancer, and each year we are growing to include more teams and get more people involved. There is even a running team that is going from San Francisco to Baltimore!
Our mission is to get passionate young adults involved in the fight for cancer through community service and support.
The Route itself is a work in progress, and each leg leader will be deciding the safest roads to take during the trip. The cities we will be riding through have been decided, since we need to contact host families, churches, community centers, etc. to ensure we have a place to stay.
Throughout the trip, we will have service days where we visit cancer patients, deliver chemo care packages, award scholarships, and share our stories. In total, we will have 10 service/rest days and 60 riding days.
I am incredibly excited to be able to tour this beautiful country at the pace of a bicycle. There are a few cities that I've visited or have lived in (Idaho Falls), but so many more that I've never been to. We are going to be relying on the kindness of strangers for a roof over our heads, a floor to sleep on, and all the food we will be eating. Almost everything we need will count on donations! We will meet a lot of generous and kind-hearted people from all over the country and listen to their incredible stories about battling cancer.
How you can help
If I am riding through your hometown and you are interested in learning more about the 4K, I would love to meet you! Please let me know and I can pass along information about the events that we will host in different cities. Even knowing that I am passing through a reader's hometown will bring a smile to my face :)
Riding 70 days across the country is no doubt going to be physically and mentally strenuous. Words of encouragement and positive vibes will help me tackle those rough days (climbing the Rockies, hello!). I will try to be blogging on the road, posting brief updates and pics when I can, and writing longer posts on rest days. There will also be mail drops along the road, so even a brief note of encouragement will make me super happy! I will share the addresses for the mail drops once I get more details on that.
All the participants in the 4K for Cancer this year are incredible, and we've already raised over $700,000. A large percent of that goes directly to patient support services (over 80%), so we are really making a big difference! Each participant is required to raise a minimum of $4500 before the start of the trip, and a lot of riders have already exceeded that goal. I am still seeking donations to meet the fast-coming deadline, so if you are able to make a tax-deductible contribution, it would help me tremendously. No donation is too small (or too large!)
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| Click to view my fundraising page |
Am I riding through your hometown?
