Alumni bike across America to raise money for cancer research
One hundred days after two alumni set out on a cross-country journey to raise money for childhood cancer research, the spandex-clad duo pedaled their way onto campus. Austin Bauman, 22, and Tom Reardon, 22, were not experienced cyclists before facing this challenge, but 5,000 miles and $130,000 later, they are experts.
A visit to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital on Thursday marked their homecoming to Vanderbilt. On Saturday, their fundraising festivities will conclude with a 20-mile bike ride beginning at the Parthenon in Centennial Park starting at 9 a.m., followed by a celebratory event at Outback Steakhouse on West End Avenue.
It’s hard to explain how I feel,” Bauman said at the Children’s Hospital Thursday. “After riding 5,000 miles and finally getting here, it’s a weird feeling.”
The pedaling pair has spent the last three months holding rallies and meeting with more than 300 children with cancer in the 20 cities they visited, as part of Rally Across America, the primary fundraising effort of The Rally Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta. The foundation donates all of its proceeds to pediatric cancer research hospitals like the Children’s Hospital here.
“It’s almost over,” Bauman said, letting out a big whoop and raising his hands over his head. “It’s incredible. Tom didn’t think it would happen at first. He was a realist. We weren’t cyclists. The odds were against us.”
Bauman and Reardon made the Children’s Hospital their last visit on Thursday.
Kimberly Best, the mother of a 9-year-old cancer patient at the hospital, said she contacted the pair through e-mail when she heard about their bike ride and told them about her son’s struggle with cancer.
“It’s cool that a couple of young college kids thought to do something like this. It is reassuring that there are still people out there who have been raised to care about something more than themselves,” Best said.
Matt Clausen has had experiences similar to Best’s. His son, Ian, has leukemia.
“Ten years ago, the success rate for Ian’s type of leukemia was 5 percent. Now it is 90 percent because of money raised by people like this. It touches us because, as a parent, you never think something like this would happen to your child,” Clausen said.
Roommates since their freshman year of college, Bauman and Reardon had already started to plan their post-graduate road trip in the fall of last year. When Bauman’s aunt found out about their plans, she suggested that the two should raise money for the Rally Foundation along the way.
“We were seeking adventure because we spent the last four years in college and wanted to do something new,” Bauman said.
After they decided to commit to raising money for the Rally Foundation, the two novice cyclists began training and formed a Vanderbilt Rally Team to help with raising money and planning their journey.
Bauman and Reardon decided on a route up the eastern seaboard to Maine, then west until they crossed the Mississippi River and then south towards Nashville.
The two started out their trek in Atlanta on June 1 with a support bus loaded with supplies as well as an amateur film company, Veritaz Productions, which will release a documentary on their journey this fall.
Of the journey, Bauman said his favorite city was Buffalo, N.Y.
“All they eat there is pizza, hot dogs, buffalo wings and beer,” he said. “They have parties every night of the week during the summer, since it’s so cold in the winter.”
On average, the team biked 100 miles each day. At night they stayed with supporters of the cause, sometimes with people they had never met. There they would use the down time to update their daily blog interviews and keep in touch with the children they met along the way.
Bauman, who graduated with a degree in music, kept Reardon entertained with themed songs corresponding to the state they were riding in, including “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra and “Walking in Memphis” by Mark Cohn.
“I normally sing, and Tom tends to keep his distance when I do that,” Bauman joked with Reardon. “We don’t talk while we bike. That’s how we preserve our friendship.”
To boost morale, Bauman also made up songs on the way, including one about a bruise Reardon received en route that spanned half his thigh.
“They didn’t talk a lot about trials and tribulations of the journey (while they stayed at my house),” said Debbie DeLair, who hosted the men in Naperville, Ill. “They said it was very important. They just felt the passion that they needed to do this for the kids.”
When the pair reached Cleveland, Ohio, they stayed with Ashley Hanson, a sophomore and the vice president of the Vanderbilt Rally Team.
“It was really cool. They showed up and I fell into their world,” Hanson said. “We immediately started planning for the fundraising we were having—calling everyone we knew in Cleveland and finding people to come. They were on the phone or the computer the entire time planning.”
Both Bauman and Reardon agree that their most memorable moments are those spent interacting with the children.
“The best part is seeing the kids and hearing their stories, because that is what motivates us to do this kind of thing,” Bauman said.
As for a future in bike riding and fundraising, the pair has not yet decided what their plans include.
“I’m still not sure exactly. It was something that will still affect me for a while,” Reardon said. “I’m glad we could make some of the kids smile.”
