Ride4UnitedWay – A great turnout for a “great day on the bike”
The 4th annual Ride4UnitedWay was the biggest and most successful to date. It was a beautiful and sunny day (although a little hot), more than 400 cyclists took off from Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Centre in Bowmanville following a Police escort and a 2012 VW Passat as our pace car, and proceeded on courses ranging from 25K to 160K. All of the fund raising pledges are not yet in, but we are on pace to exceed our previous record of slightly more than fourty four thousand dollars in total.
The ride attracts cyclists of all ability levels. From experienced road racers to fitness and enthusiast riders to more casual and recreational riders there was a great group at the start which were all brought together by a common desire to have a great day on the bike and help out their community. There was a 5K time trial this year which had more than 70 participants. The TT competition was closely contested. The top 8 riders were separated by 7.7 seconds, and from first place to fifteenth place there was a separation of only 30 second. The ride is quickly developing a reputation as being not only very well organized with strong attention to detail to ensure rider safety and comfort, but a “charity ride” which can be very challenging.
The United Way of Durham Region is grateful to all of our community partners for their support of this event. From the Oshawa Cycling Club and their members who both ride and volunteer their services in many support capacities to Impala Bicycles and Bicycles Plus, we get great help and assistance. As well, we are grateful to the Region of Durham, Durham Tourism and to the Municipality of Clarington. VW Canada, Owasco Volkswagen, Jay Kilgannon of RBC Securities and Louis Garneau (and others) provide financial support which helps to ensure that every dollar raised by our riders will directly contribute to the success of our community wide campaign which supports more than 50 local charities. This year we received promotional and recruitment and staging support from additional industry partners. We thrilled that D’Ornellas bike shop, Northern Cycle and Pedal Performance and Bay Sports all provide help in support of the event.