The “Greater than Graves” ride, organized by a recent engineering graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, is to support the efforts of the Graves’ Disease and Thyroid Foundation.
Michaela Cui, a 22-year-old Graves’ patient, and two fellow graduates plan to ride from Anchorage to San Francisco in 45 days. They left from Lu Lu’s Bread & Bagels at 9 a.m., bound for Delta. Michaela’s mother, Deb, is driving a support vehicle.
The other riders are Chris Doudna, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering, and Ben Weerts, who earned a degree in architectural engineering.
Cui, an aerospace engineering graduate, learned last year she suffers from the autoimmune disease and organized this trip as her response, focusing her energy on making people aware of the condition.
The disease causes the thyroid to be overactive. Symptoms can include muscle weakness, depression, extreme weight loss and other problems, one of the most embarrassing of which is bulging eyes. For the late actor Marty Feldman, the eye condition was not a handicap, but others are not so fortunate.
Cui said the eye condition has affected her to some degree, but it has not stopped her from pursuing this project.
“I may be having a thyroidectomy and some corrective (but cosmetic) surgery for my eyes after the bike ride,” she wrote on her blog before the ride began.
“Because of this, I am waiting to make plans for — well, my life — until after any decisions have been made. However, I do have the final go-ahead from my doctors for the bike ride provided that I wear goofy goggles or big sunglasses to protect my eyes! I can deal with that.”
For more information, go to http://greaterthangraves.com.
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TROOPERS ON ROAD: The second annual Alaska State Troopers Adventure Relay starts at the Peger Road offices Monday at noon and will end four days and 550 miles later in Soldotna after 26 legs of hiking, biking, running and rafting.
The run is to benefit Wish Upon the North Star, a nonprofit that helps fulfill the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.
Contact Beth Ipsen at 347-0638 for more, or go to www.alaskastar.org. You can also follow ASTAR on Facebook.
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GREAT SOUNDS: One of the greats in the Great Land Sounds Men’s Barbershop Chorus is Richard Hansen, who has been a barbershop singer for more than half of his nearly 84 years.
These days, Hansen is described by Mike Ferguson, a fellow barbershop singer and music director, as a semi-retired photographer. He has written a hip hop song, “Richard, King of Kodachrome” to recognize Hansen’s varied achievements.
It will be performed along with several other songs Friday and Saturday during “That’s Life,” a musical tribute to the senior member of the chorus.
“Since Richard’s life has spanned almost 84 years, the music will run the gamut from crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, to balladeers like Johnny Horton and Sonny James, to jazz singers like Louis Armstrong and the Monotones, to rock ‘n’ roll groups like the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and The Beach Boys,” Ferguson said.
Thanks to the generosity of Jack Wilbur and Design Alaska, everyone 65 and older will be admitted for free. All other tickets are $15.
The shows are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Pioneer Park civic center.
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COSTLY FIRE: The cost of the Hastings Fire north of Fairbanks topped $5 million Wednesday, with more than 830 firefighters and support personnel working on the blaze north of the Chatanika River.
The fire is not named for the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Rep. Doc Hastings, who plans to take a tour today to the North Slope with Rep. Don Young and Gov. Sean Parnell.
The fire is named for Hastings Creek, which flows into the Chatanika. In fact, the fire is not at Hastings Creek 15 miles northwest of Fairbanks, but when the fire was first reported May 30 that’s where it was believed to be.
Dispatchers name the fires when they are called in, usually picking a geographic feature as a name. Fire names are rarely changed to avoid confusion, says Pete Buist, a public information officer working on the Hastings Fire. The fire is about 4 or 5 miles north of Desperation Subdivision and McCloud Subdivision off Old Murphy Dome Road.
Dermot Cole can be reached at cole@newsminer.com or 459-7530.
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