Livestrong Texas 4000, the world's longest charity bike ride, is set to hit Whistler on Thursday July 28 as part of their campaign to fight cancer.
The bike ride will reach its 55 th day when it gets to Whistler, over a third of the way on its 70-day journey that takes riders from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. That's a 4,500-mile (7,242 kilometres) journey where riders press on through all kinds of weather including rain, wind, sleet, snow and heat.
"This ride comes with some obvious physical demands and perhaps less than obvious emotional demands," said Jamille Ruebsahm, Texas 4000 executive director, in a news release. "It's incredibly encouraging for the riders to be supported by the people of Whistler, and have the opportunity to share their stories about how they pursue this ride in hopes of living in a cancer-free society."
The team this year includes 45 student riders who began their trip in Austin with a 70-mile community bike ride called ATLAS. After that, the riders separated into two groups, Rockies and Sierra, following bike routes twice as long as the Tour de France.
The ride started eight years ago when a University of Texas student and cancer survivor was looking for a way to share a message of "hope, knowledge and charity" to people suffering from cancer. Texas 4000 has since contributed over $2.5 million to fighting cancer and over 350 people have ridden bikes for the cause.
Anyone interested in learning more or donating to the cause can go to www.texas4000.org.
Just a few days later Whistler will host yet another ride for a good cause as John Crouch, a 70-year-old cyclist, will arrive in Whistler on August 3 as he rides in honour of a nephew suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
Dubbed "John's Ride for Parkinson's," the ride is seeing him travel 2,300 kilometres from Whitehorse to Victoria as he works to raise awareness of Parkinson's Disease and money to support Parkinson Society British Columbia, a non-profit that addresses personal and social consequences of the disease.
Crouch will ride from Pemberton to Squamish on August 3 then stop for an overnight stay. There will be a welcome party for him at the Renaissance Hotel from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. with an estimated time of arrival at 5 p.m. It's an open house so anyone can come visit and meet him directly.
Anyone interested in more information can contact his daughter Mia Crouch, who has been in touch with him throughout this ride. Her e-mail is miac@telus.net.
