Cycle, Insipire, Unite: FSU Students Cycle Across the U.S. for Cancer

Looking to do something meaningful with your summer vacation?  Enjoy participating in community service?  Interested in contributing to the fight against cancer?  Finally, are you motivated enough to travel across the country by bike?  If you answered yes to any of the above, then you just might be crazy enough to join the 4k for Cancer’s cross-country cycling journey.

The 4k for Cancer Since their first ride in 2002, the 4k for Cancer has offered young adults the unique opportunity to collaborate their efforts in the fight against cancer.  By participating in a grueling 70 day, 4,000+ mile adventure across the country, these groups of students have become the faces of cancer support, awareness, and prevention.  However, the 90+ college students are on more than just a cross-country bike ride, they are bike commuters – cycling 80 to 120 miles to work each day.   They volunteer in host communities where they visit cancer patients, take part in community dinners, and give presentations.  These students are all committed to the idea of making sure that cancer patients and their families are not alone on their cancer journeys.

The mission of the 4K for Cancer is “dedicated to empowering young adults in uniting communities across the country in the fight against cancer through community service and support.”  To join the 4K as a cyclist, riders must each raise a minimum of $4,5000.  As an organization, the 4k for Cancer has raised over $1,000,000 since 2002.  The money raised goes to support a variety of organizations which offer direct services to cancer patients.  The 4k’s goal is to identify and fund programs that have an immediate impact on the lives of cancer patients and their caregivers.

In 2011, 85 volunteers, including three students from FSU (Chey Hillsgrove, Michael McNair and Ashley Daniels), rode along three different routes: Baltimore to San Francisco, Baltimore to Portland, and Baltimore to Seattle.  Combined the 4K riders raised $476,000 to support organizations and individuals in the fight against cancer.

This summer, Hillsgrove returns as an alumni rider on Team Portland.  He will be accompanied by fellow FSU students; Ashley Carroll, Colette Hapi, and Sidni Giordano.

The trip to Portland will start in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, heading north to southern Pennsylvania and then riding west through Ohio. The ride continues through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska before landing in Boulder, CO where the Portland team will meet up with the San Francisco team for the 4th of July. From Boulder, the route takes a distinctive northern turn into Wyoming’s Teton National Park.   Then, heading south to Salt Lake City before turning west again through Idaho and into Oregon.  Route highlights include cycling through Tetons, alongside the Great Salt Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument, the Painted Hills of Oregon and the Willamette Valley.

For more information, visit www.4kforcancer.org.