Media Advisory

After riding their bicycles some 4,000 miles across the country this summer to raise funds and spread awareness for cancer treatment and research, 27 students of the Hopkins 4K for Cancer, a student-run non profit organization based at The Johns Hopkins University, will arrive in San Francisco on Sunday, July 29, by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge at 1 p.m. followed by a ceremonial tire- dipping ceremony in the bay at Crissy Field. The mayor's office will present the riders with a proclamation from the city of San Francisco in recognition of the group's sixth annual trek from Baltimore to San Francisco. Representatives from the American Cancer Society and WellPoint Inc., a health care plan that is also major sponsor of the ride, will also be speaking.

At 1 p.m., the students will pedal across the Golden Gate Bridge to Crissy Field, the final stop of their 4,000-mile coast-to-coast trip. At 2 p.m., they will ceremoniously dip their bikes' front tires in the water of San Francisco Bay. They began the trip in Baltimore on May 26 by dipping their bikes' back tires in the Chesapeake Bay.

The students' mission is to unite communities across the country by raising funds, fostering hope and spreading awareness. Their trip included nightly community dinners, presentations and community service events including visits to the Arnold Palmer Cancer Pavilion in Greensburg, Pa.; the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge in St. Louis, Mo.; and the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas, Nev.

To date, this year's fundraising effort has netted more than $103,000 for the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge, a residence for out-of-town cancer patients seeking treatment at Baltimore hospitals, as well as the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Carolina Panthers' Keep Pounding Fund. Information about the group and its mission is online at www.hopkins4k.org. To reach the students this week regarding media coverage, contact rider and publicity coordinator Olympia Moy at 917-518-2277. For press inquiries related to the American Cancer Society, contact Michael Chae at (510) 504-3045. Visit www.hopkins4k.org for additional information about the students.