PORT ANGELES — A world champion long-distance cyclist will visit Port Angeles today through Friday to help a Port Angeles native kick off a fundraising effort for a 3,000-mile cross-country endurance cycling race.
Long-distance cycling road champion Maria Parker and Port Angeles High School graduate Robert DeCou will hold a showing of the documentary “Hope” and answer questions at 6 p.m. today at Barhop Brewing, 124 W. Railroad Ave.
DeCou, 34, now lives and trains in Los Angeles, and is preparing for the 12-day Race Across America, which begins June 14 in Oceanside, Calif., and ends 12 days later in Annapolis, Md., DeCou said Tuesday.
He said he is racing to raise money in memory of his friend Christina Jo Ahmann Nevill, a Port Angeles woman who died of brain cancer in June 2013.
Donations can be made at the events or at the organization’s website, www.3000milestoacure.com.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Parker and DeCou will hold a “prayer and conversations” meeting at Independent Bible Church, 116 E. Ahlvers Road.
On Friday at 7 a.m., they will make a presentation at the Nor’Wester Rotary meeting at Olympic Medical Center, 939 Caroline St.
Parker also will speak to students at 10:15 a.m. during an assembly at Hamilton Elementary School, 1822 W. Seventh St.
“Hope” is a documentary film about Parker, who won the women’s Race Across America in 2013, and Parker’s relationship with her sister, Jenny Mulligan, who had brain cancer.
“It has a happy ending,” Parker said.
Parker holds four Ultramarathon World Cycling Association long-distance endurance road records for a recumbent bicycle and has other major endurance cycling wins.
She founded and is executive director of the 3000 Miles to a Cure organization.
The race has raised $70,000 for research since its founding in 2012.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
