4K for Cancer riders dance Tuesday to the music of the Great Times Band.
“Is that what you after riding a century?” Mary Catherwood of Willmar asked me.
I was privileged to spend part of Tuesday with the riders of 4K for Cancer’s Team Seattle. They stopped for the night in Lake Lillian, a town not far from here. I wrote a story for Wednesday’s West Central Tribune and took a few photos to go with it.
The article provided only a few details about a situation that’s as complex as it is impressive.
Many of these young people are attending – or just graduated from – some of the country’s top colleges and universities. All them have been touched by cancer and want to help others enduring the same experience.
Casey Gannon, left, and Calie Caughie pose for a photo.
They’re an adventurous lot, according to Casey Gannon, a brand new graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and one of the riders who spent some time fielding my questions and posing for some photos
Few of them had ridden more than 30 miles in a day before they left Baltimore May 27 to ride more than 4,000 miles to Seattle as a fundraiser for the fight against cancer, he explained.
But those who were experienced cyclists teamed with newbies and helped them adjust to the challenge of riding an average of 70 miles a day.
“We were bringing together all the riding experience and making that mesh,” Gannon said.
Their sense of adventure and determination was put to the test on the fourth day of the ride, Gannon recalled, when the planned 80-mile ride turned into a torturous century because a bridge was closed.
They had to change their route and ride through the Appalachians.
“So many people were helping each other up through the mountains,” Gannon said.
One great thing about these young people is that they’re tech savvy. Gannon, for example, is the team’s social media specialist.
Jose Nino, who just completed his freshman year at Johns Hopkins University, is from Bucaramanga, Colombia.
There’s so much more you can learn about this inspirational young people and one place to do it is on the Internet.
Check out their website at 4kforcancer.org, check out their Facebook and Twitter postings and, if you can afford it, make a contribution.
