Hello Fellow GEARs Members:
On the 8th of July at 6:00 pm the GEARs board and membership, along with the Christian Church on 11th and Oak, are hosting a group of students from the University of Texas who are bicycling more than 4,000 miles for the fight against cancer. These students spent 18 months participating in a leadership development and training program before starting out on their ride from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, which is the longest annual charity bike ride in the world. The Texas 4000 bicycle riders have raised more than $4.5 million in the fight against cancer since their inception in 2003. We will also have the privilege of attending a presentation about themselves and what it took to get this far with their mission of Hope, Knowledge and Charity for cancer patients.
The owners of Keystone Café have graciously volunteered to prepare various pasta sauces with the pasta to feel the riders, as well as those who are interested in attending the students’ presentation a little later in the evening. But, we need volunteers to bring salads and bread to go with the pasta. The church members are bringing desserts and feeding the hungry with breakfast before they leave Eugene on the 9th.
SO we need volunteers from GEARs to:
• Attend the students’ presentation; and/or
• Bring Salads; and/or
• Bring bread (hopefully some gluten free); and/or
• Help set up the dining room before dinner; and/or
• Help break down the dining room after their presentation; and/or
• Help clean up the kitchen.
As GEARs riders we have the privilege of meeting them along their ride from Roseburg on the 8th and escorting them safely into Eugene and to the church. Also, we plan on escorting them out of Eugene and part of the distance as they head for Corvallis on another leg of this awesome trip. Keep your eyes on the GEARs website for times and routes to meet them on the 8th and to escort them part of the way on the 9th.
If you want to volunteer, please contact Paula Erickson at perick54@yahoo.com or 541-953-2894 via text or voice to let us know how you can help!

On Tuesday June 30 at 7 pm, at Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St., Greater Eugene Area Riders presents an evening of short films celebrating women and bicycling. Filmmaker Jennifer Hardacker of Pacific University in Forest Grove presents her film The WInd in Our Hair which portrays the joy and benefits of cycling through her own story and the experiences of five women of varying ages, abilities, and backgrounds and a chorus of young girls who describe how cycling makes them feel. The New Woman, a 27-minute documentary by director Gillian K. Willman  tells the story of Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky, a fiercely independent young woman who climbed aboard a 42-pound bicycle and set off from the tenements of Boston in 1894 to circle the globe. Georgena Terry, directed by Amanda Zackem, presents the story of Georgena Terry, pioneer designer and builder of women’s bicycles and founder of Terry Bicycles.

Professor Hardacker will answer questions and lead a discussion following the films.