KTKA

Topeka — For Eric Nordgren, riding a bicycle is more than good exercise. Much more. For one thing, he's a bit competitive.

"I had ambitions at one point of being a golf professional," he said recently from his home near Lake Shawnee. "And had set those aside for family concerns, because of the amount of time that it takes."

He admits he likes to set the bar high for himself. In the 90's he and his family traveled the country competing in-and winning-triathlons.

In recent years, it's pretty much been all bicycling. Competitively, but also with a purpose. We first introduced you to Nordgren in 2007, when he did a 225 mile ride to honor his father, who died of cancer.

"In the last few years of his life we became extremely close," he said.

Last summer, he rode more than 5,000 miles, and he's out to do it again this summer. It began last week, with his second annual Topeka to Atwood, non-stop, 22 hour, 345 mile ride. That ride raised money for an Atwood woman who is fighting her own fight against cancer.

After that ride, Nordgren hooked with the Biking Across group, and all summer long he'll be racking up the miles.

"It's 300-to-400 miles a week," he said. "Most of my riding, especially in the summer is done very early. I'll be up typically 2-3 o'clock in the morning.

Which leads to another thing bicycling is to Nordgren, a ministry.

"When I'm out on the bike, part of what I'm doing is I'm in prayer," he said.

He keeps journals of his thoughts while on those rides.

"As things start just kind of passing through my heart and my mind, I'll stop and write those down," Nordgren said. "And so just from these past few years I've got 5 journals completely filled."

The seminary-trained construction business owner leads about 80 other bicyclists on weekly rides and has an e-mail ministry to about 400.

He's raised about $20,000 for the cancer cause through riding prior to this summer, and is dreaming even bigger.

"I've been very interested in the concept of taking the Kansas ride and making it a national ride," he said. "It's a dream. It's out there."