EXCLUSIVE: CHS alumna to bike from Texas to Alaska for cancer awareness
SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — An alumna of Central High School is training to ride a bike 4,000 miles from Texas to Alaska to raise cancer awareness. We spoke with her to learn more.
Emily Long graduated from Central High School in 2022 and is currently in her third year at the University of Texas at Austin, where she's majoring in human biology and studying to one day attend physician assistant school. She's also a member of Texas 4,000 for Cancer, a nonprofit organization at the campus that annually hosts the "world's longest annual charity bike ride."
The 70-day ride takes place in the summer each year and spans over 4,000 miles from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska. According to the Texas 4,000 website , the organization's goal is to "share hope, knowledge and charity" through the journey as well as through leadership development and grantmaking.
"The main purpose of it is to bring hope to communities and let communities know that we're still fighting and there are still people out there who are fighting for a cure for cancer and for support services, and we're not giving up even though we're not sure whether or not there will ever be a cure for cancer," Long said.
Long said that she learned of Texas 4,000 and its annual bike ride from friends at the college. The reason she was drawn to it, however, was the chance to help others it brought.
"What drew me to it was it's a community service opportunity. We do a lot of volunteering here in Austin with cancer-related services," Long said. "Also, just the aspect of bringing hope to communities. I love to serve my community!"
Long will be biking in the 2025 ride, which she stated would begin on May 17 and conclude on Aug. 14. She said the riders will learn what route they will be taking in spring 2025 and that each route typically has approximately 20 riders assigned to it.
The annual ride is charted along three routes: the Sierra route , the Rockies route and the Ozarks route . Apart from the thousands of miles spent pedaling, each route has its own challenges, such as climate and elevation. To prepare for the endeavor, riders undergo a fitness training regimen.
"We meet up, and we do some fitness training — cardio, strength training, that type of deal," Long said. "Once we get our bikes, we will be biking 20 to 40 miles a week for training."
Long also has a $5,000 minimum fundraising goal as part of her participation in the ride, of which she has raised $1,588 as of the time of publication. Those who wish to contribute to her goal can visit her online donation portal
"A large sum of the money does go toward the cost of the ride, but whatever is left over after the ride goes directly to grants for hospitals and research services and support services," Long said.
Long said riders often keep their "Why I Ride" in mind during the journey, which she stated is "our motivation to keep us going." Hers is her uncle's death in 2016 caused by colon cancer, her grandmother's recent diagnosis of lung cancer and the people in her community who have been affected by cancer.
"A lot of us have this mentality that nothing that we are doing on this ride is more difficult than having cancer and fighting cancer, and so that's our motivation to get through the tough challenges, and the long rides, and the hot days, and the big hills," Long said.
Though Long said that she was anxious about what the winding roads of her journey will have in store for her, she's excited to see how it will grow her as an individual and raise cancer awareness in communities across the United States and Canada.
"It just takes a lot of willpower and determination to get from point A to point B," Long said. "I'm looking forward to developing as a leader and as a teammate and also just as a person."
