Wow, what an event! Last week was one of the most tiring and most rewarding weeks of my life!
Each night the preparations kept us busy until midnight and we started each day early so we could get a jump on all the issues. In the end the event was a huge success with 350 riders who helped to raise over $100,000 for research!
We raised about $55,000 online and the Northeast PA area Outback restaurants raised $41,000. We surpassed the $100,000 mark with the generous support of our sponsors such as Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Hank's Beverages, Allied Beverage, G&R Mechanical, F&F Mechanical, Faraco Knife and Slicer Co., Santhera Pharmaceuticals, Miller Coors, Heineken, and Dr. Holly Hedrick.
Ride Day started at 730am with registration where everybody was able to gather and meet before the ride started.
The 50 mile riders hit the course at about 845am and encountered a tough course. It was up and down all day, for me it was either 25mph downhill or 4-6 mph uphill. This was a consistent theme for all the ride lenghts (10mi, 25mi, 50mi) so we suffered through the symbolic up and down journey and the first riders came in at about 11am,
then the food started coming out! Outback, Carrabba's, and Bonefish cooked up Fish, Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Greens...this stuff never tasted so good!
While the riders were out on the course there was a ton of activity back at the park. The kids enjoyed a bike loop around the park, crafts, moon bounce, face painting, and hay rides by horse drawn buggy.
I think this ride had a little something for everyone. The course was very challenging even for the experienced riders but there were shorter options which helped get everyone involved. The festival activities kept the kids busy allowing playtime for Mom and Dad. And the food was second to none!
In the end this ride had huge participation from many people who had never heard of FA before and we raised a huge amount of money. Awareness and fundraising are the key ingredients to finding a cure for this rare disease, we are on our way to a cure!
Feedback
"It was a great day, the ride was challenging, but rewarding, The food was amazing!!!!!! The hard work from all of the volunteers was amazing, the markings for the ride were phenomenal. I will definitely do this ride next year!!"
"It was a privilege riding in the Philly ride for such a great cause. Learned alot about FA and met some truly inspirational people. Hope to do it again next year."
"Food - great, who gets such a meal at a bike ride!?
Family events - kids had a great time and did not want to leave, bikes are still decorated
Course - hard but good that it was hard, somehow symbolic"
Find more pictures and reviews on the facebook FARA Fan Page.
3 comments:
Sounds like quite an event - congratulations everyone! What a huge accomplishment by everyone involved. Angela and Ricky
Good job everyone! Don't forget to keep me in the loop for the next ride.
It is certainly interesting for me to read this article. Thanks for it. I like such themes and anything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.
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