Ten area teens will pedal with purpose this summer, riding some 3,700 miles over a 10-week period, from Maryland to Oregon. The group, dubbed “Lucky 13,” a play on the year 2013, aims to raise $30,000 for UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, with a portion on the money going directly to serve pediatric cancer patients. For every $15,000 raised by the Lucky 13 cyclists, Lineberger will send one pediatric cancer patient to Victory Junction in Randleman, N.C., a year-round camping facility that serves children ages 6 to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses.
The teen cyclists, most of whom are members of Boy Scout Troop 845 in Carrboro, will handily earn their cycling merit badges on the trip. Departing on June 10 from Havre de Grace, Md., the boys will ride without a support vehicle, and will carry everything they need with them. They will camp in parks, on firehouse lawns, and in the yards of family friends along the route.
This spring the boys have been busy doing yard work and odd jobs earning money to gear-up for the trip. It will cost each cyclist an estimated $2,500 to be fully equipped for the ride, and they will need money for food and repairs along the way. Chapel Hill-based cycling company Performance Bicycle, a sponsor of the ride, discounted some of the needed gear for the cyclists in support of the boys’ efforts, and conducted bike-repair workshops and first-aid training for the teen cyclists this spring. Additional corporate sponsors are welcome and will go directly to Lineberger, says Brian Burnham, the group’s leader and a veteran of four cross-country cycling trips, all benefiting UNC’s Lineberger.
Burnham acknowledges that meeting their goal of $30,000 will be an uphill climb. However, “once we start riding and people follow us on social media, I’m confident we will meet our goal,” he says. “The momentum really grows after we dip our wheels in the Atlantic and start riding west.”
Hugh Kelley, a 10th-grader at Chapel Hill High School, says he anticipates that the ride will be challenging, but worth every mile. “The biking aspect is going to be difficult, but it will also be very rewarding because we’re doing it for a good cause,” he says.
Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation to UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center on behalf of the Lucky 13 ride can do so by contacting Laura Malinchock at 215-801-4312 or laura.malinchock@gmail.com. Donations are being accepted online at http://lucky13.kintera.org.
Chapel Hill teens participating this summer are listed by high school.
Carrboro High School:
Paris Buedel, Holden Selkirk, Kyle Ferriter (CHS Class of 2012, now at NCSU)
Chapel Hill High School:
Jack Jansen, Hugh Kelley, Wes Malinchock, Arthur Mouw, Caleb Roenigk, Miles Rosen (CHHS Class of 2012, now at UNC)
East Chapel Hill High:
D.J. Recny
For information about the Lucky 13 ride, and to follow their journey online, visit www.lucky13biketrip.com.
