20th Annual Team of Texas 4000 for Cancer Crosses Finish Line in Alaska

Friends and family eagerly watch as their riders, who left 70 days prior, cross the finish line in Alaska on Aug. 2. (Photo by Aaron Sullivan)

After nearly traversing the entirety of the United States and Canada, the end was finally in sight. On Aug. 2, the 20th annual Texas 4000 team biked the final 48-mile leg of their 4,000-mile journey from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, to raise money and awareness for cancer research.

Friends and family lined up, eagerly awaiting their riders who had left 70 days prior. Excitement filled the air on a day with perfect weather for cycling.

A truck from the Anchorage Fire Department escorted the pack of 76 riders, all students from the University of Texas, as they made their final turn into the parking lot of ChangePoint Alaska, the megachurch hosting the ride’s finish and the dinner to feed hungry riders.

Siri Byrapaneni embraces a family member in Anchorage on Aug. 2 after finishing a 4,000-mile trip across nine states and one Canadian province. (Photo by Aaron Sullivan)

This year’s finish line event starkly contrasted the first Texas 4000 finish line, said Cathy Foerster, the president of the Texas Exes Alaska Chapter, who helps coordinate the annual celebration. She said she and her husband, Keith, became aware of Texas 4000 while trying to learn more about the Longhorns’ recruitment for the 2004 football season.

“[Keith] sees an article in the Austin American-Statesman about a group of young people that are riding their bicycles from Austin to Anchorage,” Foerster said. “He said, ‘Cathy, get over here! You have to see this!’ We have a small, ragtag Texas Exes group up here, and we had been looking for something that could bring us all together. And we said, ‘Let’s throw a party for these kids.’”

With the help of seven or eight other Texas Exes, Foerster organized a small arrival party at Alaska Pacific University, where riders spent the night and had access to its facilities, including much sought-after showers.

“We all emptied out our freezers of salmon and halibut,” Foerster said. “My next-door neighbor gave me 10 pounds of bear meat. I made a big vat of bear meat chili. … In the first years, it was really homey – it was five to 10 Texas Exes making home cooking for 40 to 50 people, no parents, maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend. And that’s how it started.”

Dora Soria, another Alaska Texas Ex, said the first group of riders had no plans for their arrival in Anchorage.

“They had no plan, so we connected with them,” Soria said. “They would stay with us. We would have sleeping bags on the floors [with] seven to 10 people sleeping in our houses. It was chaos, but it was the funnest thing because they were so grateful to get a real meal when [the riders] said they sustained themselves on pilot bread and peanut butter for days.”

In the 20 years since, not only has Texas 4000 established itself as an organization, but the volunteer turnout from the Texas Exes Alaska Chapter has grown, too, even including UT alumni from across the country.

Anaya Mehta, Sarah Brager, Arden Schwweniger, Ava McGuire, and Krishi Manem from the Rockies route celebrate entering the second state along their route, New Mexico, on June 6. (Courtesy of Sarah Brager)

Today, the Alaska Chapter coordinates with the Texas 4000 organization to host approximately 200 people at the finish line. This year, they catered a pasta dinner to fill starving riders’ bellies with much-needed carbs.

“We want everybody who comes to Alaska to have the best experience ever because we think this is a lovely place,” Soria said. “These riders are precious and special, so we want them to have a spectacular finish.”

The connection between the Texas 4000 riders, their organization, their mission, and the Texas Exes Alaska Chapter keeps the annual finish line event strong, Foerster said.

“[Texas 4000] isn’t an organization,” Foerster said. “It’s a family, and we’re a part of that family. We’ve all been touched by cancer, and we’ve been touched by hundreds of the riders that we’ve met, and we’ve made personal connections with them.”

With each stroke of the pedal that takes them to Alaska, the riders brought that idea of family with them. The team departed from the heart of UT’s campus on May 25 and rode together until they split into three routes: Ozarks, Rockies, and Sierras. Along each route, the riders shared their cancer stories with those they met.

Members of the Rockies team pedal along the Alaska Highway in the Yukon Territory, Canada. (Courtesy of Sarah Brager)

“The main reason I did this was to honor the legacy of my sister Katie who passed away from brain cancer about a month before I got to college,” said Josh Bedingfield, a junior who rode on the Ozarks route. “I was soaking in [the feelings] the entire time because you’d be in northern British Columbia, and people would be like, ‘Holy crap, you biked all the way here.’ … People were dumbfounded, and honestly, we were all dumbfounded of ourselves.”

Bedingfield said on a typical day, the Ozarks team woke up around 5:30am to prepare for the day’s ride, which ranged between 70 and 110 miles. If they stayed at a host’s house, they would enjoy breakfast with their hosts and say goodbye before setting off.

By 7am, the team would have their equipment ready to go, starting the day with a ride dedication circle, where the group would link arms and say who they were riding for.

“A lot of time it was like, ‘I’m riding for Katie, who I lost to brain cancer three years ago,’” he said. “And then someone else would go, and they would say, ‘I’m riding for James, who I lost to pancreatic cancer a year ago.’ … That was one of the biggest parts of the ride because we raise cancer awareness and positivity [through] storytelling along the way.”

Ana Vuckovic, a sophomore who rode on the Rockies route, said she rode for her grandma, who passed away from multiple myeloma in 2020. She said she often thought about her grandma and the cards she was dealt as an immigrant from Serbia during the ride.

“She went through a lot of stuff throughout her life,” Vuckovic said. “Just facing every day, day in and day out, knowing that there was struggle waiting for you, and throughout her life struggle waiting for her. … What we talked a lot about in Rockies is that we elected to be here when a lot of people aren’t able to choose to struggle.”

The team’s hardship came in different forms throughout the route, including riding along busy highways in Chicago and rough, gravel roads in Oklahoma. However, the biggest one was riding through food deserts, especially on nights when the team would have to camp.

“We always had food – we were never genuinely starving,” she said. “It’s just eating the same food over and over, not having nutritious food at the ready. It’d take like two hours to cook a meal for all of us, and then sometimes you’d have to do a second round to make sure everyone was well fed.”

She said a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables led to a diet mainly consisting of peanut butter and Nutella this summer.

“When I finished, I told my parents, ‘Here’s my list of foods that I don’t think I can see for the next year,’” Vuckovic added.

The Rockies team set up camp near Mosca, Colorado, on June 8, mirroring many nights under the stars on the route ahead. (Courtesy of Sarah Brager)

Beyond the day-to-day trials of riding a bicycle across a continent, Texas 4000 allows its riders to spread awareness of, learn about, and raise money for cancer research. Riders heard people’s stories about cancer along the three routes and stopped at cancer research and treatment facilities to donate the money the team raised to support their efforts.

Throughout the organization’s history, Texas 4000 has raised $4.6 million to support cancer research and support centers across the U.S. and Canada. The 2024 team continues to fundraise and will accept donations until the end of August. Using the funds the 2023 team raised, this year’s team granted $24,000 to Providence Cancer Center in Anchorage and $6,000 to BC Cancer in British Columbia. The 2025 team will distribute the funds that this year’s team raised.

Riders Lizzy Young and Catherine Oordt present a $24,000 check to Providence Cancer Center on Aug. 2 at the finish line in Anchorage. (Courtesy of Texas 4000)

Ozarks, the route Bedingfield rode, went southeast from Austin towards New Orleans before heading north to Alaska. They rode through the Cancer Belt, an area stretching from East Texas to Memphis characterized by petrochemical factories and higher-than-average cancer rates.

“At its worst, it’s called Cancer Alley between New Orleans and Baton Rouge,” Bedingfield said, adding that you’re seven times more likely to get cancer in this part of the country. “Within a couple of weeks, we were very indoctrinated by these really intense stories and literally biking past these petrochemical factories, it was scary. … We saw it up close and personal. Those are experiences I’ll never forget.”

Throughout the ride, the riders encountered people eager to share their stories, many of which they brought to Anchorage. Vuckovic met a woman named Joanne in Gainesville, Texas, who shared her story with lung cancer.

“She told us about getting her initial diagnosis and how she flipped it from there,” Vuckovic said. “Her number one thing that I think a lot of us held onto for the rest of the ride was how she met [her diagnosis] immediately with optimism and positivity. … She was determined to stay strong in the face of it and deal with it in the best way she could because she knew that would give her the best outcome.”

From Austin to Anchorage, the riders brought Joanne’s positivity through the hopeful stories they told and the monetary support they delivered to various cancer centers. That positive energy impacted those they met and encouraged them to finish the grueling yet rewarding ride.

“Texas 4000 has been the most fulfilling, impactful experience of my life,” Bedingfield said. “Not only because of its connection to my family … but also seeing [it] preparing student leaders to be the next generation in the fight against cancer. There are so many ways that Texas 4000 contributes to that. I hope the organization is around for another 20 years so many more people have the experience because it was truly life-changing.”