Students Bike 4,000 miles for Cancer Research | Events

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- It's probably not how most college students are choosing to spend their summer, but for roughly 30 University of Illinois students, there's nothing else they'd rather be doing.

These students will spend 72 consecutive days riding their bikes across the country from New York to San Francisco, which is about 4,000 miles.

It's all to raise money for cancer research.

Along the way they're also interviewing cancer patients and survivors for their portraits project, which they say is inspiring.

"They have the most positive attitude, and I think that really helps put our ride into perspective because when we're riding, we can be in a real bad mood, or tired or whatever, but if someone who is struggling with cancer can have a positive attitude towards their life, there's no way you shouldn't have a positive attitude toward your day, no matter how hard it is," said Divya Nagpal, a cyclist on the Illini 4000 team.

The group has raised $123,000 so far, but they hope to raise $125,000.

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