To honor the memory of his grandparents, a Metro State student is organizing a 1,400-mile bicycle ride to the Oregon coast to raise money for the American Heart Association. The ride, "Colorado to the Coast," departs the Auraria campus early Monday morning and will arrive in Seaside, Ore., about Aug. 14.

"I lost my grandparents a few years ago," said organizer Jacob Detweiler, a 25-year-old history major. "They both struggled with heart complications, and I wanted to do something to honor their names."

New to the world of event organization, Detweiler spent two unsuccessful years making phone calls and writing letters trying to get an event off the ground. In January, he caught a break. He got a job at Campus Recreation, where he met Julie Rummel Mancuso, assistant director of Campus Recreation. She helped connect Detweiler to the American Heart Association. With the organization's encouragement and endorsement, Detweiler began to put the ride together.

"I have never organized anything like this before, but if it's a success I'd like to make it an annual event," Detweiler said.

Detweiler has assembled a team of six riders, including two other Metro State students, 25-year-old Shannon Shepard and 20-year-old Jessica Sepulveda. In addition, Tom Hinojos, a 35-year-old army veteran and student at Community College of Denver who has spent the last nine years in a wheelchair, will be making the trip in a recumbent bicycle. Detweiler's stepfather and a former boss will also make the ride.

"The ride honors the names of two very important people and raises money and awareness for a wonderful cause," Detweiler said. "More and more people I meet have had a friend or loved one who has suffered or is suffering from heart disease."

To learn more about the ride, or to make a donation, go to http://www.coloradotothecoast.com/

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