By Cheryl Jahn

Texas 4000

Texas 4000 riders pit stop in PG

Jul 12, 2024 | 10:30 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – A group of 26 cyclists recently converged on the city this week. It was Day 47 of a 70-day trek that has them riding from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise funds and awareness for cancer research and supports. And, for riders, it’s a major commitment.

“It’s an 18-month program,” explains Ana Vuckovic, Assistant Ride Director, about her first tour. “I started in my freshman fall. So just learning about the organization, starting your fundraising and then my sophomore fall was a lot of learning about it, organizing, applying for leadership, doing some small training, learning how to ride a bike, if you didn’t know how to. And then my sophomore spring, you’re training for 20 hours a week with meetings like 15 hours a week and just trying to get ready for the ride.”

There is a serious vetting process for the aspiring riders, who go into the venture with some pretty specific goals.

“I, personally, have not had anyone in my family affected by cancer, but I was involved in cancer research before I joined this organization,” says Shaunak Sathe. “And so it was something that I really was called to just by hearing about it. And then once I joined, I realized just how special the organization is.”

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Mantra Dave is an aspiring law student and, with previous riders as mentors, he knew what to expect. Kind of.

“It’s been interesting to see how people across the continent have similar stories and are affected by cancer in similar ways, even when we might not agree on a large number of other things or have totally different backgrounds or stories, the ways in which we interact with the health care system and the way it shapes the lives that we have and the lives of our families are really similar.”

And, while the cause is noble: raising funds to fight cancer, it is truly an exercise in leadership-building.

“It’s been tough,” says Vuckovic. ” Like it hasn’t been an easy thing to learn how to lead a group of 25 people, especially 25 of your peers. But it’s been really rewarding. I think I’ve learned a lot about how to manage people, how to manage myself in my own emotions, how to do like solve problems quickly on the fly, all of that.”

The riders converge in Anchorage, Alaska on August 2nd.