“Texas to Alaska” Bike Ride Rolls Through Alexandria

46 students from the University of Texas are seeing a lot of the country this summer, including Alexandria, MN. It’s part of an annual ride called the Texas 4000. The number comes from the estimated number of miles they need to travel in order to accomplish their goal of riding their bicycles from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. It is the longest annual charity bike ride in the world. All of this effort is not just for the sake of seeing the country, but rather to raise awareness of the need to help cancer victims and support causes that aim to help those without means to pay for treatment or lodging and also to help fund cancer research.

The students are blanketing the country in two groups of 23 riders. One is traveling through the Rocky Mountains and the other has traveled through the Ozarks. The latter group recently made an overnight stay in Alexandria on their way to Alaska. Beginning on May 20th the Ozarks Group has ridden their bikes through New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, Madison, and Minneapolis to name a few. At some of the stops they’ll stay in church basements, or YMCAs, others they’ll camp in parks or with a host family. The variety of the accommodations match the variety in the topography and weather they have faced along the way. The motivation behind each individual’s ride includes a multitude of reason. For some it has been a sibling or parent going through chemo, while others have lost grandparents, aunts or uncles to the illness. All riders are either upper classmen or recently graduated from the University of Texas.

In order to be part of the Texas 4000 the competitively selected students must agree to an 18-month program that according to their website, is “designed to cultivate the next generation to lead the fight against cancer.” Texas 4000 empowers each student to raise $4,500, ride 2,000 training miles with his/her team, volunteer more than 50 hours in the community, and play an active role in planning every aspect of the ride. The organizers look for students with a passion to fight cancer, previous organizational involvement, good communication skills, and a demonstrated ability to work well with a team. Previous cycling experience is NOT a requirement, and the fundraising, training, and volunteering all take place BEFORE the summer ride even begins.

Riders provide their own “SAG” support, rotating through the duties of driving the support vehicles, setting up rest stops, securing food donations, and preparing meals.

Messages of prevention and early detection are shared with communities large and small and community members have the opportunity to sign the team’s dedication banner, which riders carry on their journey to Alaska.

The Texas 4000 training program focuses on Eight Foundational Skills: Self Awareness, Communication, Resiliency, Efficient Planning, Peer Respect, Situational Leadership, Technical Knowledge & Skills, and Vision & Action. 

As part of their ride through Minnesota, the Ozark cyclists began heading west from Minneapolis early Sunday morning, June 25th with Alexandria as their destination, well over 110 miles away. Mother Nature provided plenty of rain and headwinds to make the longer than normal daily ride, that much more challenging. Some of the riders pulled off the trail early and rode with the support vehicles because of various challenges.

One of the first riders to contact Explore Alexandria in advance of their trip was Julia Krebs. When two smaller groups of riders made it down the Central Lakes Trail to Big Ole Park on Sunday around 4:oopm, the junior Public health major was not among them. Julia had recently broke her wrist in a cycle crash with another team member. With a sling and some scratches, Julia arrived at the camp site later in the evening. She was welcomed by hugs and well wishes. A journey of 18 months, including 70 days on the rode together, builds some pretty tight bonds.

The first stop for the riders was the Alexandria Area YMCA. They were able to take a nice warm shower after a cool, long, rainy day and were then shuttled over to Lake Brophy County Park. Once they arrived, they were greeted by members of the Big Ole Bike Club who provided a wonderful lasagna meal. Bonnie Brand led the charge for the local cycle group, but it was a smorgasbord complete with a variety of fresh fruits and sweet treats as well. Explore Alexandria provided them all with a little Ole sticker for their water bottles and bikes and cooling towels for the warm July days ahead. As part of a special gift from the Douglas County Parks Department, the group was allowed to camp on the shore of Lake Brophy Sunday night. Although it was a bit windy, they enjoyed a nice camp fire and smores on the edge of a beautiful Minnesota lake. By 6:00a.m. the next morning the “campers” all had their belongings packed up. They were treated to a couple pans of egg bake, caramel and cinnamon rolls, thanks to Travelers Inn, along with Caribou coffee. Many times the riders responded to each new gesture of hospitality with genuine gratefulness. With their stomachs full, their bags packed and their hearts full, the group gathered in a circle outside the Brophy Park Visitor Center. They shared what they were grateful for, people or things for which they planned to dedicate the day’s ride to, as well as some of the challenges they are facing. It ended with a fun little chant that erupted in a kind of jubilant little dance, complete with a bunch of 20-somethings bouncing around and laughing….a lot. The group was on their way to Fargo on Monday and will eventually meet up with the Rockies Group in Whitehorse, Yukon on July 18th (the same day Lake Brophy Park will hold it’s official grand opening and Summer Sounds on Brophy Concerts). From Whitehorse all 46 riders will ride 10 more days together until reaching Anchorage on July 28th.