When Jonathan Triantafyllou received a phone call last semester and learned that his close friend Philip Bayliss had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, he was shocked.
“He was 22,” said Triantafyllou, a music senior. “It shattered the idea of [invulnerability] you have at 20 or so.”
In the years before, the two friends had talked about going on a large-scale bike ride for some kind of cause but never got around to it because of conflicting schedules, Bayliss said.
After his diagnosis, however, Bayliss and Triantafyllou felt that now was the time to bring this idea into fruition.
Thus, Bike Towards the Cure was born.
“We’re both very new to this, though we grew up in an area where mountain biking was really prevalent,” Bayliss said.
Bayliss has come to use the knowledge gained from his bachelor’s degree in business management – he is now pursuing his master’s in business administration at UNT – to help organize the official nonprofit organization.
However, he has had to learn a lot in the process.
“I’ve been lucky with the people I’ve reached out to for help,” he said. “[The organization] will help me professionally.”
Jonathan Triantafyllou, a music senior, lays out the 4,500 mile cross-country route he and his friend will undertake on their bicycles in June. Their ride will cover 15 states and raise funds for their newly created nonprofit, Bike Towards the Cure. The money will go toward cancer research. Photo by Drew Gaines/Photographer.
He said he wants to follow the example of some of his friends who organized a similar event for autism where they took boats up the east coast from Florida to the Jersey Shore.
“I’m following their model a bit. They got a lot of press and coverage while [biking] would be best.”
While Bayliss works on the bureaucratic side of things, Triantafyllou plans the day-to-day route and performs unofficial public relation duties.
Combining two routes coordinated by the Advanced Cycling Association, the ride will tentatively begin on June 12 in San Diego, Calif., and will end about two months later in Avalon, N.J. – totaling about 4,500 miles.
“I plan on writing to larger cycling magazines,” Triantafyllou said. “There was already an article published [in the York Dispatch] back home on the East Coast.”
People who don’t want to try and conquer the full ride can join in for smaller intervals as long as they donate $1 for every mile they ride.
The organization just nabbed its first corporate sponsor, Shaklee Sports Nutrition, and Triantafyllou said he looks forward to seeing more follow its lead.
A handful of events during the ride are in the works, including a kickoff day at the beginning of the ride and a possible day ride in Phoenix, Ariz.
“I have a friend in Phoenix who’s heavily involved in the athletic community,” Bayliss said. “We’re talking about doing a half or full century [a 100-mile ride] down there.”
Both men feel slightly out of their comfort zones in pursuit of this endeavor, but they remain passionate and said they hope to reach their goal of $30,000 by the time they reach Avalon.
“This is a bit extreme,” said Bayliss, “but extreme measures are required.”
For more information and opportunities to donate, visit the Bike Towards the Cure Facebook page.
