Sonny Angel, Cody Jo and Annie Marie's Gift of Hope Endowment

2025 Annual Ride for Hope

Washington State University Veterinarian Dr. Rance Sellon enjoys bicycling, but his 217‑mile ride from Cle Elum to Pullman from Aug. 18 – 20 is about honoring a good friend and his efforts to help animals in need of care.

Sellon is making the trek — his eighth time — to support animals at WSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital that need life-saving procedures but whose human companions do not have the means to pay for the care. The ride was first organized in 2006 by Bill Johnson, a client of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital who lost his Golden retriever, Sonny, to canine lymphoma.

Johnson himself was later diagnosed with a blood cancer, hairy cell leukemia, and can no longer complete the ride, so his friend, Sellon is carrying on the Bill Johnson Annual Ride for Hope, which has evolved into a College of Veterinary Medicine tradition.

To raise awareness and money for the fund he created, Johnson biked the very route he and Sonny frequented to Pullman for cancer treatments for 10 years in a row. 

Other than a slight detour on the Beverly Bridge to cross the Columbia River, Sellon’s solo ride this year will follow the same path.