ROLL ON ME: Wheels lined up, waiting for bicyclists to mount. Photo by Joel Saget/Getty Images. PARALLEL: They are two separate people, each carving their own trail. While international fans follow superstar Lance Armstrong as he tries to win the race of his life... ...Trang Nguyễn, quietly, tries to finish her quest having cycled from Maryland and aiming to finish in Northern California. Photos courtesy of Đức Tiến Nguyễn and Getty Images.

The eyes of the bicycling world have been focused on the Alps and Pyrenees of Europe of late, what with Lance Armstrong vying for his seventh consecutive win in the Tour de France.

But on this continent, and much closer to home, there’s another cyclist to watch, one of a group crisscrossing the United States, traveling through places like Kankaee, Ill., and Kremmling, Colo., all in the cause of raising money for cancer patients.

“I never thought I could push myself,” said Trang Nguyễn, 22, a Maryland resident who will enter Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine this fall. “When I’d go to the gym and got tired, I’d just quit. I never thought I’d have the will power to do this.”

But will power she has had, traveling thus far from Baltimore to Panaca, Nev., as part of a group of about two dozen students, primarily from The Johns Hopkins University. They are pedaling to their destination at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, hoping to raise $60,000 for Hope Lodge, a place where adult cancer patients and some family members can stay while undergoing treatment in Baltimore-area hospitals. Along the way, they’ve met cancer patients, visited hospices, participated in the Relay for Life and also taken in the sights of America, from the corn fields of Nebraska to the Arches National Park of Utah.

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For Nguyễn and many of the other riders, this journey is personal. Not only is it a rite of passage of sorts, traveling the United States maybe during one of their last summers before careers beckon, but it’s a way to remember those they loved who have been taken by cancer. With every turn of the pedal, Nguyễn rides for her mother, Việt Thủy, who died of a brain tumor in June 1998, just nine months after her diagnosis. She was 36.

Việt Thủy Nguyễn was the matriarch of an unconventional family. She and her husband, Dr. Đức Tiến Nguyễn, both came to the United States from Việt Nam but that wasn’t their final stop. Because Đức, who holds a doctoral degree in public health was working in his field, the Nguyễns, along with their two children — Trang and her younger brother, Tiến, a student at the University of Southern California — traveled the world, living in places such as France, Rwanda and Somalia.

“To me it was just my normal childhood. I really don’t know what else to compare it to,” Trang said.

Vịêt Thủy has been her daughter’s inspiration. In college, Trang got more involved in cancer awareness, volunteering for the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center. She said she also coordinates a breast-cancer awareness festival on campus.

“It’s my last free summer to do something before medical school,” said Trang, who already holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins. “I thought it would be a great way to raise awareness.”

How would Việt Thủy feel about her only daughter riding cross country?

“She was always really into working out and exercising,” Trang said. “I don’t think she’d think I was too crazy but I really don’t know.”

To Trang, the ride isn’t crazy but rather a comfort. She is happy knowing her efforts are raising money for Hope Lodge, a place where Việt Thủy found a home during her battle with cancer.

“By giving our money there, the American Cancer Society has money to give elsewhere,” she said.

“The American Cancer Society appreciates the countless hours and dollars donated by the students from Johns Hopkins University,” said Dawn Ward, communications and marketing director for its South Atlantic Division. “The students are truly generous in their support of the Society’s Hope Lodge, and we thank them for helping to change the lives of people and families affected by cancer.”

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Participants in the 2005 cross-country tour, the Hopkins4K for Cancer as it is known, are the fourth group of students to have taken part. They come from small American towns and big cities as well as Singapore. Their nationalities are diverse. But they have united in a common cause.

“It’s a student-run venture all around. They do all the work of getting the trip together, planning the route and finding places to stay along the way,” said Amy Cowles, a Johns Hopkins spokeswoman. “Every year, they blow me away with what they do. They just keep passing it on”

The journey is at their speed. They don’t ride at a racer’s pace like Armstrong, himself a cancer survivor, does. Some days, they log as few as 50 miles if there are mountains, like the Appalachians and Rockies they have climbed. One day, they traveled 105 miles. The average is 70 to 80 miles per day. Trang said her body has learned to adjust, but sometimes her hands hurt from holding on to the handlebars. Two vans ride along as support vehicles. The riders can communicate by walkie-talkies.

The cyclists usually spend the night with a church group, a local family or at a YMCA. In the host towns, they are fed. Nurtured. Inspired.

“A lot of cancer survivors come out,” Trang said. “It gives us a lot of motivation when we hear their story.”

She’s met some fabulous people, she said.

“The Nebraska hosts were amazing. All the people I’m riding with all are amazing people to be doing this.
“Everyone on this trip has been just wonderful.”

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Đức Tiến Nguyễn admits he’ll breathe a big sigh of relief when he sees his daughter in San Francisco at the finish line. The group is scheduled to arrive July 31.

When Trang informed him of her plans to go cross country, he was a little worried.

“It wasn’t a crazy thought, but too difficult, you know. Too tiring of a job,” he said. “Her body is not too big.”

But that small frame has served Trang well so far on the trip. She said she began preparing in March, going to the gym regularly to build up her cardio health. Some of her fellow riders are varsity athletes, and she’s been able to keep pace.

“I’m not comparable to them, but I do all right,” she said.

Dức, who moved from Maryland to Southern California last year, said he’s been a little on edge, waiting to hear from Trang along the route. While she travels with her cell phone, there isn’t always reception.

“I am very proud of her. I still worry every night,” he said. “The first time I was a little worried when I couldn’t get her. I intended to call the police.”

He’s calmed a little, and he takes comfort in knowing those vans travel along side the riders.

“They are well protected, but it’s risky,” he said. “There’s a lot of risks everywhere. Young people? They like to take risks.”

But he said he knows his late wife also would be proud of her.

“Before her mom passed away, she had great confidence in her that she could do everything and anything. Even tough things.”

Đức and son Tiến will meet Trang next week, then the three of them will take a trip to Asia. She is looking forward to continuing her summer world tour, and this will be her first visit to Việt Nam.

She probably will settle for other means of transportation while there. Her biking days likely are over, she said.

“Once I reach San Francisco, my biking will be done,” she said.

So will she leave the bike in California, maybe donating it to her brother?

No, she said. He already has one. She thinks she’ll ship it back to Maryland or take it with her on the airplane when she returns in mid-August for school. Parting, it seems, would be such sweet sorrow. “I think I’ll have too many memories.”

Anyone wishing to donate can send checks to:
Hopkins 4K for Cancer
c/o Trang Nguyễn
210 Mattin Center
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218