Cancer ... it's kind of a big deal. That is the tagline for the Cross Country for Cancer blog. In a benefit to raise awareness and funds for cancer research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of Johns Hopkins University and for the American Cancer Society, six international college students are spending 45 days of summer cycling across America. The Cross Country for Cancer cycling team, who began their 4,000 mile journey in San Francisco, California, 13 days ago, plan to finish in Baltimore, Maryland. Cross Country for Cancer is blogging the daily challenges and adventures of the cycling journey across America where this group of college students -- John Lian of Amherst; Ezra Pierce of Oxford; Jacob Pierce of UC Santa Barbara; Patrick Garfjeld Roberts of Oxford; Max Capener of Oxford; and David Lauterbach of Wheaton -- basically came up with a big idea and without any self-admittedly realistic sense of what is possible, simply agreed to go for it.
Pierce, who is blogging for the team, does make the most engaging daily posts of satirical and serious dialog -- including photos edited with pithy Monty Python-esque captions -- that, if you enjoy all that is the best in blogging, will keep you coming in for a daily read. Of course he has plenty of help in cohorts of humor from the entire team. I was hooked on my first visit and am now an armchair fan. Their efforts are real and the undertaking in riding across America in 45 days no small feat. But they take the long road in the truest spirit of adventure -- of setting out to conquer the road because it is there, and because they want to make a difference in conquering cancer.
The Cross Country for Cancer team is dedicating the 4,000 mile ride to the memory of Katie Hoben, a dear friend of the team who fought valiantly but lost her battle with cancer. The quality of blogging at the Cross Country for Cancer blog and the efforts of the team in making the epic ride across America should raise enormous amounts of money in donations and later down the road some kind of blog award for the blog itself. In case Pierce and the team haven't thought of it yet -- the blog eventually becomes a book and another avenue to raise money to benefit cancer research. The Cross Country for Cancer blog is that good.
