By Joe Smillie, Forum Editor

A group of 28 college-age bicyclists dipped their front tires in the Pacific Ocean shortly after noon Thursday, having ridden 27 miles south from Forks near the end of their cross-country ride to raise money for young adults with cancer.

Sixty-eight days ago, the bicyclists dunked their rear tires in the Atlantic Ocean at Baltimore, rider Nicole Considine said in a cellphone interview with the Forum.

The ride is called the Baltimore to Seattle 4K for Cancer, a program to raise money to support the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They rode from Port Townsend, where they were hosted by First Presbyterian Church, along U.S. Highway 101 to Forks on Wednesday and spent the night at Forks Assembly of God Church, where they were fed a baked potato dinner.

“It was just what everybody needed,” Considine said. “We all just needed a good, hot meal.”

After the Jefferson County ocean stop, the group rode to Aberdeen, where they spent Thursday night.

Friday, they rode from Aberdeen to Bainbridge Island, where they spent the night before taking the ferry to Seattle on Saturday.

They gathered at next to Pike Place Market in Seattle.

To participate, each rider had to raise at least $4,500 for the Ulman fund, according to Alak Renukuntla, spokesman for the riders who traveled with them in a support and water supply van.

The fund helps young adults with cancer get care and counseling as they fight the disease, Renukuntla said.

For more information or to donate, visit the website at www.4kforcancer.org.