GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Triple-digit temperatures won’t deter 73-year-old Charlotte Reicks and 65-year-old Marie Nemec from riding their bikes to Phoenix next month.

It will be their 11th cross-country bike ride to raise money for Huntington’s disease research.

Each year before the bike ride the two women sell T-shirts and collect donations for family services and research toward a cure for Huntington’s disease.

This year’s goal is to raise $47,000 to bring the total raised to $500,000.

Routes are based on the final destination — which is the reason for going to Phoenix. This year’s national convention is in Phoenix, a journey of about 750 miles.

“We usually ride two-and-a-half to three weeks,” Nemec said.

Because of the anticipated heat of Arizona, they’ve made two modifications to this year’s trip, Nemec said.

“We’ve tried to shorten the distances between stops,” she said. And “we’ll attempt to get on the road by the crack of dawn and quit by noon.”

Nemec and Reicks cover between 50 and 60 miles a day by “leap-frogging” across the miles. The two women take turns riding while the other drives a van with supplies to a designated spot where they switch vehicles.

The ride can be tracked on the Internet at www.bikeforthecure.org. To read a daily account of the ride, which starts May 17, e-mail Nemec’s husband at ron.nemec@bigfoot.com to request a subscription.

To donate to this year’s “Canyons to Cactus” fundraising trip, visit the Web site or call Reicks at 245-7491 or Nemec at 250-5997.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.