"Saturday morning, 44 cyclists wearing matching white helmets and burnt orange jerseys and riding identical red TREK 1500 SL road bikes will set out from the University of Texas Tower in Austin for the trip of a lifetime... This is the Texas 4000, a fundraiser for cancer research that is also a test of endurance for the young men and women who have dedicated their summer to helping fight a disease that will strike about 1.45 million Americans this year and kill an estimated 560,000..."

The 2007 Sense Corp Texas 4000 for Cancer team was happy to bring in the New Year by having our organization featured in the January installment of the University of Texas Exes Magazine, The Alcalde. The article follows the blogs of 2006 team member, Patrick Caldwell, and features an interview with our founder, Chris Condit.

This feature takes our mission to spread hope and knowledge about cancer far beyond the roads between Austin and Anchorage to over the borders of countries across all oceans. We are proud to be part of the fight against cancer, the University of Texas, and this edition of the Alcalde magazine as we strive to reach those affected by cancer.

After losing her sister Meredith to cancer, Emily Lyon, 19, knew she would go any length to preserve the spirit of the person closest to her...

Eighty members of the Texas Exes Houston Chapter will climb on their bikes this weekend to represent The University of Texas at Austin in the MS150 ride from Houston to Austin. In its 20th year, the Houston to Austin MS150 is the largest in the country with more than 10,000 riders in 2003. The ride raises money for National Multiple Sclerosis Society and each participant must raise a minimum of $300 to ride. Over 12,000 riders are expected this year.

Along with the 80 participants, another 20 individuals affiliated with the university will provide support for the team. The volunteers include members of the Texas 4000 team who will ride from Austin to Alaska this year to raise money for cancer awareness.

"While other college students across the country begin their summer jobs or vacations, Juan Galvan of Harlingen will bike 4,000 miles from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, to raise money for cancer awareness and research. Galvan, a finance major at the University of Texas in Austin, will count miles and dollars while he rides with more than 60 other UT students on the Texas 4000 For Cancer bike tour..."

"Name a cancer survivor who spends much of the day on a bicycle, and Lance Armstrong is the easy answer. Chris Condit is not. But soon, he might be. Condit, an electrical engineering senior, won't be challenging five-time Tour de France champion Armstrong in the summer of 2004, but he has helped create an organization that will spend a comparable amount of time this summer using cycling as a means to spread awareness and raise funds for the American Cancer Society"... More

A friendly group of college students biking from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, stopped in Sherman Tuesday night. The group is one of two making the 4,500-mile trip to Alaska on their bicycles, raising money to benefit the American Cancer Society and educating people throughout the country about the disease. The tour is called the Texas 4000.

70 days. 4,500 miles. On a bike. Could you do it? 42 cyclists gather courage and gear and saddle up for a cross-country charity ride.

The 42 riders -- 31 men and 11 women -- formed Texas 4000 for Cancer because most of them have been affected by the illness.

Condit, who founded the group, remembers being diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma at 11 and seeing other sick children in the pediatric oncology ward.

"I saw a lot of kids that had much, much worse kinds of cancer," said Condit, a senior electrical engineering major. "Just seeing those little bald kids with those cancer victims' sunken-in eyes, scars on their heads, brain surgeries, just hearing them cry because they had to be stuck with a needle for the thousandth time, that's never going to get out of my head."

Q: What is the Texas 4000?

A: The Texas 4000 for Cancer is basically a student-run, nonprofit organization of 41 UT students cycling from Austin to Alaska to raise hope and awareness of cancer and also contribute $100,000 to the American Cancer Society. Basically, it got started with our director Chris Condit, he's a cancer survivor himself, but he was inspired by Lance Armstrong to get this thing started. He met some other kids who did some other kind of charity rides like this, and they kind of helped us out. He had an ad, an article in The Daily Texan asking for applications. About 120 applications came in. We selected like the best from that. And basically that's how it got formed right here. But, basically he had a dream of doing something great and he's actually making that dream a reality.

"Months of early morning practices and physical training will soon pay off for members of Texas 4000 for Cancer. This summer they will begin a trek to Anchorage, Alaska, for the benefit of cancer awareness and research.

The idea for Texas 4000 for Cancer was conceived by Chris Condit, an electrical engineering senior, who thought of the concept when he ran into cyclists from the Hopkins 4K for Cancer in 2002. "

Texas 4000 For Cancer, an organization of 46 university students from all over the country, will ride an average of 75 miles a day from June 1 - August 9. Their mission is threefold: raise money for cancer research, educate local communities about prevention and early detection, and instill hope through their message and activities.

"Everyone has a story," [Steve] Bryant said. "Too many people have lost friends or relatives to cancer. Luckily, I don't. Luckily, the tumor on my mom's arm was benign. You always think about the possibilities and wonder what you would have done. The thought of my mom, or any of my loved ones for that matter, having cancer is scary. I'm lucky, but I realize that others haven't been as fortunate. People I know have moving stories that will make you weep with them as they recount the memories. I don't want anyone to go through that, so I will help them fight."

"The reasons for riding are unique to each participant. Undoubtedly they include the opportunity for mental and physical challenge, but what is common to all riders is their connection to cancer. Cancer attacks everybody equally. Every rider has been affected by it. Everyone sees the need. Everyone wants to do something, Condit said. To read more about each riders motivation for particicipating, visit http://www.texas4000.org/cyclists.php.

This has led the riders to focus their daily treks on three things: first, to use their personal experiences to bring hope to cancer patients they meet along the way; second, to educate others they meet about cancer; last, to urge everyone they meet to join in the fight against cancer."

"Most Texans wouldn't dream of driving from Austin to Alaska. Ben Hardwicke, a University of Texas student and former resident of The Woodlands, isn't planning to drive that distance either. He's planning to bicycle it. Hardwicke, a 20-year-old sophomore, will join a group of 60 UT students this summer in an approximately 4,500-mile bike ride to raise more than $130,000 for cancer research..."

"Austin, Texas, may be home to cycling champion Lance Armstrong, but a group of students at the University of Texas at Austin plan to show they can hold their own. In summer 2004, Texas 4K for Cancer will take a group of UT students on a two-month, 4,000-mile cycling ride from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska."