Shreveport to welcome charity bike ride with reception

The world’s longest charity bicycle ride — Texas 4000 for Cancer — is set to receive a Texas-sized welcome from the Shreveport community Sunday as they roll into downtown.

Groups of 60 to 100 University of Texas at Austin students make an annual 70-day, 4,687 mile bike trek from the Austin campus to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research. Each rider raises $4,500. On Sunday, the Ozarks route group will ride through Shreveport stopping at the Shreveport Water Works Museum in downtown.

Local cycling enthusiasts and those who have been affected by cancer will greet them with a reception, which is free and open to the public. The riders will make a short presentation at 1:30 p.m. about their cause and why they ride, sharing information about efforts fighting cancer.

The presentation will be followed by live acoustic music including the Street Rats String Band and Trash Can Jinga. Lagniappe Catering will serve up Chicken Sausage Jambalaya, and GoGreenly, fresh vegetarian hors d’oeuvres, for as long as the supply lasts.

Bringing attention to the fight against cancer, fund raising for the TEXAS 4000 for Cancer, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, organizers hope the event will raise awareness of local cancer centers located, such as Christus Schumpert Cancer Treatment Center, Feist-Weiller Cancer Center and the LSU Health Science Center Shreveport. Local cancer research projects and centers are eligible to apply for funds raised by the TEXAS 4000.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20140605/LIVING/306050006/Shreveport-welcome-charity-bike-ride-reception