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Cross-country riders spend night in Paola PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Brian McCauley   
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 08:00
Not even a rising thermometer, which reached a sweltering triple digits and beyond Monday, could keep a group of dedicated cyclists from pedaling into Paola and completing the next step in their 4,000-mile journey to raise funds for cancer research and prevention.

As the sun slowly set Monday night behind Cross Point Assembly of God church, where inside a group of ladies were preparing a carbohydrate-loaded spaghetti meal, the first group of bike riders appeared on the horizon at the top of a hill on Old Kansas City Road before coasting into the church’s parking lot and over to the youth center.

The young cyclists from all across the country were a few of the 27 riders participating in the Hopkins 4K for Cancer, in which volunteers undertake a 4,000-mile, two-month bicycle trek from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

One of the first two riders to hop off their bikes and embrace the cool air conditioning inside the Cross Point youth center Monday were co-directors of the event Tom Hintze from New York and Chris Louie from California. Both said Monday was one of the hottest and longest stretches of their 63-day journey. They left Sweet Springs, Mo. at about 6:30 a.m. that morning and didn’t come cruising into Paola until almost 8 p.m.

It didn’t take them long to unpack their sleeping bags and other belongings and prepare for their well-deserved overnight stay indoors.

Each rider had to raise $4,000 in donations before participating in the event, and the money will go to support the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge in Baltimore, which is a temporary residence for cancer patients and their families, and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, which has an outreach program encouraging cancer screenings for early detection.

Raising the money is just the first part of the challenge, as the journey itself is made up of a daunting schedule of daily treks. Monday’s journey alone covered 112 miles.

Mary McQuilkin of California and Richard Hsu of Virginia are both participating in the event for the first time. McQuilkin grew up in the San Francisco area and first found out about the event when she saw them finishing up their journey along the beach a couple years ago. Now, she’s a student at Johns Hopkins and doing the ride herself.

Hsu actually goes to the University of Virginia, but went to high school with one of the men doing the run this year, and they decided to do it together. For Hsu, it completes two dreams of his: To travel across the country and help people instead of working during the summer.

The cyclists began May 31, and they are scheduled to finish in San Francisco on Aug. 1.

Hopkins 4K for Cancer began in the fall of 2001, when co-founders Leah Blom and Ryan Hanley, sophomores at Johns Hopkins University, decided to combine their desire to fight cancer with their dream of cycling across the United States, according to www.Hopkins4K.org. More information can be found on the event’s Web site at www.4Kforcancer.org.
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