Family Focus

4000-mile bike ride for cancer awareness rolls into Charlotte

The Texas 4000 rode into Charlotte on day 53 of their 70-day, 4000-mile-plus bike ride that began in Austin, Texas.

The Texas 4000 for Cancer is a nonprofit led by students at The University of Texas at Austin.

The organization was founded to cultivate a continent-wide network of individuals committed to raising hope, knowledge, and charity in the fight against cancer.

Each year, approximately 80 students spend 18 months volunteering in Austin, learning about developments in cancer research, training, and fundraising a minimum of $4,500 per rider before the final event, a 70-day 4,000+ mile bike ride from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska across 4 routes.

“This year looks a little different as we adapted to the pandemic,” said Adrian Landstrom, one of the organizers. “We will still be completing a 4,000-plus-mile bike ride, but it will stay in the continental United States, and we’re using this opportunity to visit communities, like Charlotte, that we typically aren’t able to.”

Teams are split into four routes this year – Ozarks, Smoky Mountains, Rockies, and Sierra.

The team visiting Charlotte is part of the Smoky Mountains route.

The Smoky Mountains route, made up of 22 riders, which travels through Arkansas, Tennessee, and up around the Great Lakes before coming back down the East Coast and mid-Atlantic.

“Because we want to use as much of our fundraising as possible for grants to cancer research and support services, we depend on the kindness and generosity of individuals and organizations in the communities we travel through for somewhere to sleep,” Landstrom said.

Northside Baptist Church opened up its doors for the riders who spent the night in the gymnasium.

“These young people are accomplishing an amazing gift for people living with cancer,” Veronica Washington, Northside Baptist Church community outreach coordinator said. “Even if it is just for one night, our church loves that we can be part of this journey.”

The team has implemented safety measures concerning the health and wellbeing of the riders and communities they visit.

“Many of our Texas 4,000 family members are immunocompromised or supporting those who are, and we want to ensure that during these trying times we are prioritizing our mission alongside health and safety,” Landstrom said.

Texas 4000 was founded by Chris Condit in 2004, then a student at UT Austin, as a student organization inspired by riders of the Hopkins 4K.

Diagnosed at age 11, Condit himself is a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor conceived Texas 4000 as a way to continue the fight against cancer.

Always helping the community, the Charlotte Fire Department was responsible for logistical help and donated and served dinner and an early-morning breakfast.

“The Charlotte Fire Department is ready to support efforts that benefit greater awareness and hope for people living with cancer and their caregivers. We, along with the rest of the world, look forward to the day that there is no more cancer,” said Capt. Jackie Gilmore, Charlotte Fire Department public information officer.

After breakfast, the team is heading back on the road and plan to arrive back in Austin in mid-August.

If you have an inspiring story to share, email Kevin Campbell, public affairs manager at WSOC-TV/WAXN-TV/Telemundo Charlotte, at Kevin.Campbell@wsoctv.com.