ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A group of 39 students at the University of Texas at Austin, split into two smaller teams, are currently seventeen days into a 70-day odyssey from Austin to Anchorage.<\/p>\n
They are the 2026 standard-bearers of the Texas 4000, a yearly journey started in 2004, aimed at raising money for cancer research.<\/p>\n
Each rider is required to raise at least $7,500 to participate, with many clearing that amount by a significant margin. The total raised, according to rider Aishwarya Kothalanka, is in the neighborhood of $350,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the idea is that we will be granting out this money along the route,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kothalanka, along with the eighteen other members of the Sierra team, were in Lake Tahoe, California, as of Tuesday night, staying with one of many hosts along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, we are provided a space to sleep,\u201d rider Nadia Toh said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s beds. Oftentimes it\u2019s just space on the floor, which we appreciate just the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group has already encountered flat prairies, hot deserts, and steep inclines, with more challenges still to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re already in bear country in the eastern Sierra, so every evening when we arrive at our place to stay, we need to move all of our food out of our vehicles,\u201d Sierra route ride director Katie Chang said. \u201cLater up in Canada, this is going to continue to be an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chang also mentioned the sporadic cell service, periodic lack of showers and other amenities, and general isolation as additional hurdles to the grueling physical challenge \u2014 one the team believes it is up for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud to say that Texas 4000 is one of the only biking orgs in the nation that has not had a death,\u201d Kothalanka said. \u201cWe are very happy that we take safety in a very big, important aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rockies team, which comprises the other twenty riders, will have its own obstacles to clear before the two groups reunite on Day 60.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shoot quite high to hit this goal, but we also have a cushion around us,\u201d rider Drew Wessels said of the camaraderie his team has already built. \u201cAnd that\u2019s our friends, too. Whenever we\u2019re having a bad day, inevitably kind of catch us and be there for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
While those connections have been rewarding, all the riders spoke about the bonds they\u2019d formed with far less familiar faces who nonetheless understood their stories and mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just the people that we\u2019ve been able to meet along the way and all the stories we\u2019ve been able to hear about people\u2019s experience with cancer,\u201d rider Ty Enos said. \u201cCarrying that along with us is just something that\u2019s so fulfilling and so heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each rider described their own personal motivations for joining the ride, usually a family member who battled or succumbed to the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m riding for my grandfather who passed away four years ago of esophageal cancer,\u201d Chang said. \u201cI\u2019m also riding for my father who lost his mother to a brain tumor when he was ten.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to honor their journeys through the disease and also be a part of making a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on their current pace and schedule, the group has 53 days remaining after Tuesday, setting up for an arrival into Anchorage on July 25.<\/p>\n