Bo Jackson's commemoratory ride across Alabama will continue on the former two-sport athlete's collegiate stomping grounds in 2014.
Bo Bikes Bama, the annual charity event that raises funds for emergency planning in memory of the Alabamians lost in the deadly April 2011 tornado outbreak, will kick off both legs of the cycling event on Saturday morning at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts.
With the ride in its third year of existence, Jackson said his inspiration for the event was born from the terror he felt watching the destruction in his home state that infamous April day.
"With all the loss of life that happened here, I just felt compelled to come home and help in anyway form or fashion," Jackson said.
All funds raised during the ride go toward the Governor's Emergency Relief Fund, which helps to construct storm shelters across the state.
"Everybody knows you can't compete with Mother Nature," Jackson said. "You can't fight her. But you can get out of her way. By raising funds to build tornado shelters all around the state, we've done that in the sense that we want fellow Alabamians, whenever we're having bad weather, to get out of their homes and into a safe place."
Speaking in Foy Hall on Auburn's campus, Jackson said he was recently told by Governor Robert Bentley that almost 200 shelters had been built across the state of Alabama.
Jackson estimated the shelters can house close to 150 people and will withstand 300 mph winds.
"Everybody who has donated is responsible for this structure being here," Jackson said. "It's because of you guys who have donated a few dollars here or there that we were able to get the bank account to where we could make these structures."
In addition to discussing plans for Bo Bikes Bama, Jackson also gave a sneak preview of the upcoming SEC Network documentary "Bo, Barkley and the Big Hurt."
The documentary highlights a period in the 1980's when Jackson, Charles Barkley and Frank Thomas, all of whom went on to become professional athletes, were collegiate athletes in Auburn at the same time.
With his former team's spring game scheduled to take place the same day as his charity event, Jackson, who currently resides in Illinois, said he is happy to be back in his home state.
"The state of Alabama is home to me," Jackson said. "I am proud to be from this state. Sometimes I'm not proud of the way we treat each other, from one side of the state to the other. But this is home to me."
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