When Daniel Tesfay graduated from the University of Texas in May, he embarked on a meaningful journey. Not the metaphorical “journey” of commencement speech notoriety, but a bona fide 4,500-mile bike ride.
Early on the morning of June 6, Tesfay, along with 44 fellow cyclists, most of them UT students, set off on a trek from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, in the Sense Corp Texas 4000, an event aimed at raising awareness and money for cancer research.
During an extensive interview process, ride applicants gave reasons for wanting to join the 70-day long tour: Sarah Coyle rides for her uncle who has brain cancer; Beka Mullen rides for her grandfather, whom she watched die, “slowly and painfully”, from throat and lung cancer; and Stephanie Hsu rides for the young oncology patients she met while interning at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.
For Tesfay, it is his mother, Dorothy Strong, who lives in Lakewood with his father, Seifu Tesfay. Strong was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in April 2004 when Daniel Tesfay was still a student at Woodrow Wilson High School. The news of her illness was hard on the family, she says, “but they trucked along.”
It might have hit her only son harder than she knew. Tesfay says the family didn’t talk much about his mom’s cancer, probably because the illness is so frightening.
“I have always tried to ignore the reality of cancer because of the negative feelings it evokes,” he says. “My family and I talk very little about what is happening because often it just seems easier.”
When he heard about the Texas 4000 for Cancer, the world’s longest annual charity bike ride, it seemed like an opportunity to face the fear and do something about it.
Tesfay had heard about the ride at school and, as an athlete, was intrigued by the physical challenge. As a scared kid with a sick mom, he was drawn to the values behind the event.
“I have been on the university rowing team and I’ve run a marathon — the Austin marathon, this year. The terrain will be different from what I am used to, so that will be challenging, but the length isn’t too intimidating,” he says. “More important to me are the core principals attached to the event, which are hope, knowledge and charity. We will stop along the way to visit with cancer patients and talk to people about prevention. Plus, the money raised benefits cancer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Each rider has to raise at least $4,500 before we leave, the idea being a dollar a mile, but we all try for more than that. Since its inception, the Texas 4000 has brought in over $1.4 million.”
The ride — now in its sixth year — was founded by UT alumnus Chris Condit, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma when he was 11 years old. Condit hopes the event helps not only practically but also cathartically.
“In addition to raising funds to fight cancer, the [ride] gives young people the opportunity to lead the charge on a cause that is important to all of us,” Condit says.
Upon publication of this story, Daniel will be somewhere around Yosemite, Calif., with 2,100 miles or so under his belt. He — along with about half of the other participants — is on the “Coastal Route” to Anchorage, which transverses nine west coast states and two Canadian territories. The remaining riders are on the “Rockies Route”, which runs through seven states and three Canadian territories. The two groups pushed off from the UT campus together, split up at Lampasas, and will meet up at Whitehorse, British Columbia before the big finish on Aug. 14.
Riders rest about once a week along the way, with nights at popular destinations such as Zion National Park, known for its slot canyons and soaring towers and monoliths, and the magnificent Redwood National Forest. The cancer-combating cyclists stay with host families, camp in tents, or sleep in gymnasiums and other facilities offered up by like-minded residents and business owners living in towns along the route.
It’s a tough trek, but college students are lining up to take on the challenge.
For the 2010 Texas 4000, organizers already have received about 170 applications for approximately 50 available spots. In fact, Tesfay says, he is mentoring a fellow Woodrow grad, Jared Muston, who already has been selected for the 2010 team.
When Tesfay told his parents about his ambition to ride his bike to Alaska, they were surprised.
“My mom said, ‘You’re crazy,’” he says.
Strong admits that she was a bit jolted by her son’s plan.
“It’s a huge time and energy commitment. Yeah, it does seem a little crazy, because I just assumed he’d go get a job when he graduated,” she says, smiling.
Strong says she understands that young people often need to do something significant and meaningful following years of study and academia, and that her son thrives on these types of physical challenges. Tesfay’s parents, both of whom work in the medical profession, went to Austin in June to cheer on their son, and they will be able to follow his journey online at Texas4000.org.
Today Strong is feeling relatively well, if a little worn out from years of treatment, and says that she is “technically in remission.”
Tesfay feels good about doing his part to address the uneasiness and fear that cancer imparts on families like his all over the world. He wrote as much in his “personal statement” in the Texas 4000 literature:
“I can continue to ignore what is happening to my mother and millions of people like her because it is the more comfortable route, or take steps to help alleviate the problem. I’m choosing the latter because I believe that if our scientists will it, a cure can be found.
“I won’t be the one to find it, but I’ll be able to rest a bit easier knowing that I have made a real contribution in the fight against cancer.”
To support Daniel Tesfay’s fundraising efforts for cancer research, visit texas4000.org/give/donate for instructions on how to make a financial donation in his name.
