“We’ve been involved with all kinds of different cancer fundraisers but so far this one has been the best,” said Eva Helminen.
A family riding their way across the state of Michigan.
They’ll use a bicycle built for three to fight back against cancer.
The Helminen family from Brighton will bike roughly 1,400 miles, raising thousands of dollars for childhood cancer research in the process.
And doing it all on a three person bike.
9&10’s Whitney Amann caught up with the family and has more on their trip and how much they’ve raised.
A family biking 1,400 miles in six weeks stopped in Traverse City Tuesday with only 200 miles left to go.
“We are riding for the Great Cycle Challenge to earn money for childhood cancer research,” said Eva.
The Great Cycle Challenge is the world’s largest month long cycling challenge, raising money for the 42 kids diagnosed with cancer every day.
“So far we’ve raised $12,450, our original goal was $10,000 which we thought was lofty and then we changed it to twelve and now we’re at fifteen so we’re just trying to get there by Friday,” said Eva.
Eva, Karl and Zack started their trip Memorial Day weekend with their dog Duchess in tow.
Traveling up the east coast, to the U.P. and now heading down the west coast ending in Ludington next Tuesday.
“It’s been one of those kind of trips that you stop as you go, there’s no set rules,” said Eva.
“What I really liked is seeing small towns and stopping at places that you never see when you’re driving a car, visiting people along the way, a lot of interesting people, a lot of bikers that have their stories and we have our stories,” said Karl Helminen.
Flat tires, bike problems, and a lot of rain haven’t stopped their momentum and desire to raise awareness.
“Zack is 10 so it’s perfect for him, an opportunity for him to help other kids,” said Eva.
“This childhood cancer ride just came along at the perfect time when we were going to take a bike ride and we figured it was a real good cause and it has been great,” said Karl.
For more information on how to donate and to see their trip, .
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