Most college kids would shudder at the thought of riding hundreds of miles in the sweltering southern summer heat on a bicycle.

Most college kids are busy planning summer vacations, recovering from a hectic school year or have enrolled in summer classes.

The Texas 4000 riders are not most college kids.
Hailing from Austin, Texas, the non-profit student organization is braving the summer scorch to make a 4,500-mile bike ride over a 70-day span from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska in order to raise  money and spread awareness about cancer.

Texas 4000 was started over 13 years ago by University of Texas student Chris Conley with the primary goal of spreading hope, knowledge and charity and to fundraise.
According to travel chair and rider Patrick Golden, the trek is the longest charity bike ride in the world.

“Chris started this because he wanted to raise money for cancer in a unique way while also promoting physical activity,” Golden said.

Now, an organization that started with less than 30 people has expanded to over 150 members and has raised $30 million dollars.

Golden and his team  of 42 riders have set a goal of $825,000 dollars.
At the time they stopped in Brookhaven they had already hit the $500,000 mark.

Before any of the riders are allowed on the route they are required to raise $4,500 each, which equates to $1 per mile. They also have to endure a training regimen and log 2,000 miles of riding.
Golden said the group holds speaking events in some of the cities along the routes in order to raise funds but added that it is not the only way they receive donations.

“A lot of times we will have random people approach us at gas stations and hand us money and tell us how much they appreciate what we are doing,” he said.

The team’s travel chair went on to add that he joined the organization after he attended their informational session at UT.
Also, as the son of a mother who is fighting breast cancer, the cause is rather personal to him.

“Being able to come to these towns and let people know they are loved and cared about is an amazing thing,” Golden said.

Golden also said that beyond raising money, the group hopes to develop leadership among its members and promote the idea of making honorable and respectable young men and women.
The group will be staying in Brookhaven Thursday night.
After leaving their route will take them on a 75-mile ride to Vicksburg and Clarksdale before they leave the state headed to Memphis.