Bicyclists climb Dodge Street Wednesday morning as part of the annual Tour Da Yoop, Eh. The 1,200-mile ride raises funds for childhood cancer. Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON — Shortly after 7:30 a.m., a group of bicyclists powered their way up Dodge Street.

By going up the steep route, they’ll make life easier for other people going through difficult times.

The Wednesday morning trek was part of Tour Da Yoop, Eh, a 10-day, 1,200-mile trek around the Upper Peninsula. The annual ride raises funds for U.P. Lions Serve, a non-profit that provides support throughout the entire treatment process to U.P. families dealing with childhood cancer.

Riders had arrived in Houghton Monday night before riding to Copper Harbor and back Tuesday. On Wednesday, the sixth day of the ride, they set off on the 113.4-mile journey to Marquette.

“Everyone does it for a different reason, but it’s definitely very emotional,” said Eller Studinger, part of Tour Da Yoop’s support and gear team. “We’ve got some older people that do it to try to get more in shape or prove that they’ve still got it, we’ve got younger people doing it for the challenge, doing it for the scenery. And then other people come up just because of safer biking… up here, there’s clean, nicely paved roads and fewer cars.”

The Dodge Street route was chosen in tribute to Rylan Gibson, who’d died in 2022 at the age of 6 after battling neuroblastoma. He’d gotten to meet the riders in 2021, and had hoped to do it again.

Along the sidewalk, Rylan’s family cheered on the riders. His parents, John and Kendra Gibson, held a sign saying “Rylan Our Hero.” His older brother Jace, carried a framed photo of him.

Rylan’s family knows firsthand what those funds can mean. Tour Da Yoop and U.P. Lions Serve had helped them out when he was undergoing treatment. They had even been the ones who reached out to the Gibsons.

“The right words aren’t even there,” John said. “It meant so much. You’re so focused on making sure you are where you need to be and taking care of these treatments. It takes the extra financial stress and burden off your shoulders and you can focus on what you need to focus on with your little kid.”

The Gibsons have stayed in touch with both groups. They come up for Tour Da Yoop’s pizza party in Houghton every year. They’ve also stayed in contact with the chair of U.P. Lions, which had helped the family through its pediatric cancer program.

“This is all them,” John said. “We’re just here to watch it. They helped us along the way. If you go on their website, you can see all the different families that they helped.”

John’s father, Patrick Gibson, is organizing the inaugural Rylan’s G7Force Ride to Fight Childhood Cancer, which starts at Ahmeek Park at 8 a.m. Saturday. The side-by-side ride will take people from Ahmeek to Hancock, then up to Dollar Bay before heading back to Ahmeek Park by 6 p.m. That will be followed by food, games and prizes from 6 to 8 p.m.

The proceeds will be split evenly between Northwoods Air Lifeline and the University of Michigan’s research on childhood cancer.

For more information, people can join the Rylan Strong G7 Force Facebook group or call Patrick Gibson at 906-369-0551. People are asked to preregister if possible.

Northwoods Air Lifeline is one of the groups Tour Da Yoop supports. It provides medical flights, with an emphasis on winter flights. John, Kendra and Rylan made many flights out for treatment or appointments, at no cost to them.

“The cost of that is just tremendous, I suppose, all the fuel,” John said. “They send them checks every year, and that’s one of our main ones that we raise money for. We’re trying to finally start to give back, because everybody helped us so much.”