Bucks County woman bikes coast-to-coast for cancer
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Coast2Coast4Cancer ride is done, but the door is still open for donations.
And a Bucks County woman was thrilled to be part of the cross-country ride for cancer research.
Alka Bhatt of Newtown was one of 109 riders from Bristol-Myers Squibb in the Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer, which starts September 4 in Oregon and ends on the beach in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 24th.
Bhatt rode about 300 hilly, high-elevation miles from Boise, Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah on September 7-9.
She did it in memory of an aunt who died of head and neck cancer last year in India.
"For us & my family, having to watch from afar was really difficult. So I think watching her journey has really motivated me to put in the time for the ride and to be able to put in the 4 months of training to be able to complete it," she says.
Bhatt remembers long visits with her aunt during her childhood.
The former marathon runner admits training for a long-distance bike ride is different.
"With a marathon, you hit a wall gradually, but on a bicycle, you feel great until suddenly you don't," she notes.
And Bhatt says she hadn't been on a bicycle in 15 years till she was invited to ride.
Bristol-Myers Squibb will match money raised by the riders, up to $500,000, for anything donated through October 11.
Altogether, they want to raise $1 million dollars for the V Foundation.
