By ANALISE PICKERRELL
Four Points News
Three former Vandegrift students and current University of Texas undergraduates were sent off on May 25 to bike from Austin to Anchorage on the Texas 4000 – the world’s longest annual charity bike ride. The ride lasts 70 days, covering roughly 4,000 miles from start to finish.
Seventy-six riders, including Vandegrift alum Avery Wong (class of 2022), Anna Kamepalli and Maanas Gupta (both of class of 2020), embarked on the ride to spread hope and financial support for the countless lives impacted by cancer. As it celebrates its 20th year, the both nonprofit and student organization has raised nearly $5 million dollars and funded 20 research initiatives. Over the course of the ride, people can “fuel the ride that fights cancer every mile” by donating supplies or funds online.
“I ride for hope [that] scientific innovation will soon help our communities beat cancer forever,” wrote Gupta, biomedical engineering UT junior, in his rider profile. “(Cancer) patients and their families need to know they aren’t and will never be fighting alone.”
Wong, a neuroscience UT junior, said her high school English teacher, Kirsten Mulligan, inspired her decision to ride. During Wong’s senior year, Mulligan’s husband passed away due to cancer.
“Every day, Mrs. Mulligan chose to show up to school and still be a source of resounding positivity, so strong it would radiate through the entire school,” Wong shared in her rider profile. “I want to dedicate my journey as a way to give back even an ounce of her love.”
Mulligan, who committed to riding her bike everyday to support the team from home, coordinates multiple cancer fundraising and awareness events at Vandegrift, including Pink Out Week and Relay for Life.
“You never know who you’re impacting and in what way,” Mulligan said. “So just go out in the world and do good. That’s what I’ve tried to do in class.”
After being inspired by passion for the cause and the sense of community among the team, Mulligan has volunteered for the Texas 4000 since its third year.
“It’s just a magical concept,” she said. “It’s such a group of dedicated people who want to be part of something bigger than they are.”
After a competitive application process, volunteers train and prepare rigorously for the summer ride in the preceding spring – which includes logging around two thousand miles in advance. Additionally, riders must raise at least $4,500 – approximately one dollar for every mile – before departure in May.
On instagram, Wong and other riders have been updating their supporters daily. At about the two week mark, the riders reached Zion National Park in Utah after biking through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Then they got to Las Vegas before riding north into California over the past week.
“Going into this, I thought this was just a summer of biking, but it’s so much more than that,” Wong said. “It’s a summer of spreading hope, knowledge and charity every mile, interaction and city.”
With an average of eight hours a day spent biking, Wong said that the journey gives her the opportunity to connect deeply with other teammates and the generous supporters who open their homes for the riders. She added that she has felt “loved and cared for so well.”
Mulligan plans to fly up to Anchorage to cheer on the riders as they cross the finish line at the end of the 70 days. She said it’s a small way to show her support for a team that means so much to her.
“Most teenagers want to sleep late in the summer, go to the pool and hang out with friends. That’s all good and healthy too,” Mulligan said. “But [Texas 4000] will change their lives forever.”
