The West Fargo CycleBar Pedals for a Good Cause

The CycleBar in West Fargo held a charity ride for Landon Solberg, a ten-year-old battling cancer

WEST FARGO, N.D. — “We’re going to go as fast as we can. You can take a little bit off if you want, but I want you to go hard,” yelled the West Fargo CycleBar owner, Jodi Roper to her cycling class.

This type of motivation is the norm at the CycleBar in West Fargo, however for this particular class it wasn’t encouragement for the sake of reaching a personal best mileage or a top-notch speed. This ride was for Landon.

“This ride is the most special and very near and dear to my heart,” Roper said. “Tonight we’re riding for Landon who’s ten.”

“They are doing a charity ride for my son Landon who’s battling a brain tumor,” Landon’s mother, Andrea Solberg added. “It’s just a really special event.”

But tonight Landon wasn’t just your average CycleBar rider.

“He’s going to be up there co-teaching with me,” Roper explained. “He’s my sidekick tonight.”

The duo taught a completely full class together and while the hope was to raise money for the Solbergs, the family says the goal is much bigger than that.

“For us, a lot of these events end up being just to lift his spirit up,” Landon’s father, Travis Solberg said. “I mean it’s hard at times. He’s doing radiation every day he’s in his fifth week, and this just energizes him. If you see him he’s smiling, he’s happy, he’s excited so it really picks him up.”

“He’ll have a huge smile on his face for the rest of the week just because of all the support that’s come out tonight,” Andrea added. “It’s what we’re trying to do everyday. You’re never guaranteed tomorrow so we’re just trying to make the most of every moment.”

Landon, however, had another goal in mind.

“He sent me a text today he said ‘Are you ready dad?’ and I said ‘you’re going down buddy!’ So he texted back and he said ‘well you’re a little heavier then I am so that’s an unfair advantage, so it will be a friendly competition,” Travis said. “I told him I’ll be happy just to finish.”

Landon was also in charge of selecting the tunes to play during class and he made sure to add all of his favorites to the list.

“Imagine Dragons, Taylor Swift and some of the new top hits,” Landon said of his song selection.

And of course he wasn’t going to take it easy on his students either. His message to them was simple.

“Put up the resistance,” Landon said.

It was a tough workout, but a great way to brighten Landon’s light. The charity ride raised more than $2,800 for Landon and his family.