Local alum reflects on charity ride to Alaska

Elizabeth Peters experienced a lot of things this summer.

Like all Texans, she endured temperatures well into triple digits, but she also got to live through freezing temperatures, rain and snow.

The cooler weather was coupled with beautiful scenery, wildlife and a chance to raise money for a charitable cause, and Peters would say it was a memorable and worthwhile summer.

Peters, a 2006 Flower Mound High School graduate, was among 45 students at the University of Texas who biked nearly 4,500 miles from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska spanning 70 days to raise money for cancer research.

The Texas 4000, as the group is known, began in 2004. Each year, the team consists of different members who make the annual journey. They must go through an interview process, and if chosen, they spend the next 18 months preparing. That includes raising money, finding host cities and training.

Each member must raise $4,500, and the team's goal was to reach $350,000. Peters said an official count hasn't been determined, but at last check the total raised was around $300,000.

There were two teams that made the trip. Peters' team, Rockies 2011, went through local cities such as Carrollton, The Colony and Frisco before heading to Lindsay, Texas and up to Oklahoma. It then traveled through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana before arriving in Canada and finally reaching Alaska.

The long trek provided its share of challenges.

"The Oklahoma panhandle was hard because it was hot, about 107 degrees, and there were some very strong headwinds," Peters said. "Plus, there was nothing to look at but wheat fields."

The temperature dropped about 10 degrees once the riders reached Colorado. But once they arrived in Wyoming, Peters said the winds were just as strong as what they faced in Oklahoma.

"I now understand why they call that area Wind River Valley," Peters joked.

The team also endured some freezing temperatures on its trip, though that mostly hit at night when the students were camping. And throughout the ride in British Columbia, the team had to battle the rain.

The trip wasn't all challenging, though. It also provided a chance to see wildlife the students typically don't see in Texas.

"I think we saw about 20 bears," Peters said. "I got pretty good at spotting them."

Perkins said the students also saw more than 100 antelope in Wyoming.

"There's not much out there," Peters said. "So one of my friends spent the day just counting the antelopes."

When the team wasn't riding, it was staying with host families or speaking to groups about cancer and the team's mission.

"In Oklahoma, one church brought out about 100 people to listen to us talk," Peters said. "We collected money for our cause, and it was great because this town didn't have a lot, but the people gave a lot."

Communities helped Texas 4000 in other ways. In Colorado, a massage class offered free massages to the riders. And a bicycle repair shop inspected everyone's bikes to ensure they were still in good condition.

In Prince George, B.C., the group met the family of a man who had died of cancer. He had always said "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." Peters and other riders then wrote that on their bikes for inspiration.

"Some of us wrote it on our bikes so that we could see it," Peters said. "And others wrote it on the back of their legs so that the riders behind them could see it."

It was moments like that that kept the extreme weather elements from getting to Peters.

"The only thing we didn't ride through was the lightning," Peters said. "But other than that, we kept going no matter how hot it was, how cold it was or how much it was raining."

Peters said the trip did a lot for her personally as well.

"It gave me a lot of confidence to pursue the crazy things I want to in life," Peters said. "It encouraged me to be more adventurous in life and to think that things I want to do are not out of reach."

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