BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – A group of young men is putting minds and bodies to the test in a coast-to-coast road trip. The trip is not just for fun; it’s for a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

“My legs feel like they want to give out, but at the end of the day it’s nothing compared to what some of these families have to deal with,” said Britton Rowe, a student and member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Western Kentucky University.

Rowe joins 11 of his brothers in Phi Gamma Delta, or “FIJI,” as they rolled into Blacksburg on Saturday in a coast-to-coast bike ride called “Bike4Alz.”

These young men are sacrificing their summer for a to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s Disease, a ride fellow Bike4Alz member Kellen Patterson is taking on for his own family.

“My grandma was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about a couple months before this trip actually began, so it really hit home that this is a disease that can affect really anyone, even someone as strong-willed as my grandma,” said Patterson.

Patterson said the days are long, sometimes biking 50 miles in one day to get to the next destination. Saturday marked day 62 of 70 of the Bike4Alz trip.

But he said it’s all worth it, helping raise money through a fundraising event and connecting with those who are fighting the same battle Patterson faces.

“When you get done and you talk to somebody who has gone through a very, very difficult experience, you realize that the work you’re doing is really making an impact and we’ve seen that in a lot of different places,” said Patterson.

All proceeds go toward the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Clinic at the University of Kentucky and the Alzheimer’s Association. The trip wraps up on July 27th and the group has already raised $95,000.

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