About Me

Profile

About:

My name is Evan Rowley, and I’m a saxophone playing, ice cream scooping, snowboard loving Austinite studying Psychology and Public Relations at The University of Texas. My likes include orange juice, argyle, super smash brothers, tacos, and basketball shorts. My dislikes include laundry, sand, hangnails, loose change, and cheese cubes. I’m into almost any genre of music, and I absolutely love any song with a good key change in it. I generally like to stay pretty busy, but when I’m not studying or working on something, I’m either craving a dessert of some sort, or hanging out with friends.

In addition to Texas 4000 for Cancer, I'm involved with The University of Texas Longhorn Band, Tejas Club, Texas Blazers, Camp Texas, Kappa Kappa Psi Service Fraternity, and am a part of Texas Cheer as a University of Texas Mascot.

Why I Ride

Knowing how influential Texas 4000 is in the name of fighting cancer and seeing the impact this organization has on the community, I have realized this is an opportunity I cannot pass up. My mother lost her life to cancer when I was 12 years old, and I have completed fundraising efforts on her behalf ever since. Texas 4000 is an opportunity for me to reach out further than I ever imagined in the name of cancer research. Being able to serve as a symbol of hope for those affected by cancer means more to me than I can articulate. But I’ll try.

Personally seeing the struggles of cancer is indescribable. Not only did I see my mom lose her hair as a result of chemo treatments, I saw the sadness in her eyes that accompanied it. Yet my mom’s positive attitude and fierce willpower always masked the struggles I knew she was fighting. Witnessing these struggles first hand is humbling in a manner I cannot even begin to describe. I owe it to my mom to do everything that I can to fight cancer, just as she did everything she could; for no matter how difficult a 4,654 mile bike ride to Alaska may be, there will never be anything harder than the constant struggle cancer victims endure.

This is why I ride.

I ride for the families of cancer victims, and for my mom, Randy Rowley. I saw the brutal effects that cancer had on my mom as I was growing up and I lived with the effects her cancer had on my family. In addition to the unspeakable mental and physical struggle my mother endured for the next 7 years of her life, the emotional strain her cancer caused my brother, my father, and me was difficult, to say the least. The support of our community was invaluable in helping to push my family through this time. This is why I ride: to be a part of the community that once supported my own family; to prove to these families they are strong; to show cancer we are strong. I ride for the victims cancer has claimed. I ride for those still battling cancer. I ride for the husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, daughters, and the sons of cancer victims. I ride for Randy.