Students from the The University of Texas are on a mission to fight cancer by spreading hope and sharing knowledge! They are cycling from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska in the 15th annual Texas 4000. It's the longest annual charity bike ride in the world. The trek will cover more than 4,000 miles. It began on June 1st and will pass through Rochester on Thursday July 5.

A press release explains more about this unique charity ride: "The Texas 4000 is more than an endurance ride for cancer. It combines leadership development, physical training, cancer awareness outreach, volunteer opportunities and philanthropic commitment. All students undergo an application process to be part of the 18-month program and once selected, each student is required to raise $4,500, ride 2,000 training miles with his/her team, volunteer more than 50 hours in the community, and play an active role in planning every aspect of the ride to Alaska by attending weekly meetings and taking leadership positions within the team"

In total more than 750 students have made the journey from Austin to Anchorage and raised more than $8.4 million to fight cancer.

You can follow their ride at facebook.com/texas4000

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