The 23rd Annual Ride for Life is coming up Saturday, Aug. 17 with all proceeds benefiting The American Cancer Society.
Registration at Texas Roadhouse on Emily Drive, Clarksburg, WV will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. Breakfast, courtesy of Texas Roadhouse, will be available. Tickets for a 50/50 drawing and raffles will be sold.
Shortly after 12 p.m., the bikers will set out on a scenic ride through various West Virginia counties and into Maryland, then back into Bridgeport/Clarksburg.
An after-party will start at 5 p.m. at Best Western Plus Bridgeport with food provided by Best Western and Texas Roadhouse. The after-party will feature dinner, raffles, high roll and low roll cash prizes, bike games, and live music by Suicide Jack. All event participants are welcome. Others who would like to come out and enjoy the music and participate in the drawings can do so for a $10 donation. Raffle prizes will feature everything from Pittsburgh Zoo tickets to overnight stays to themed baskets.
The Ride for Life is sponsored by Bikers for a Cure. Last year, 530 people participated in the event, which raised more than $32,000 for the American Cancer Society. Founded by Chrissy Musta and some Pratt & Whitney co-workers, the first Ride for Life was inspired by Musta’s first experience at Relay for Life, a well-known fundraiser for the ACS.
“I didn’t even know anyone with cancer then, but I was really touched by the luminary service and seeing people pay tribute to those they had lost to the disease,” she said. “Seventy people took part in our first Ride for Life. It rained and was awful and we decided we needed to do it again and it has grown every year.”
Through the years, Musta has known many people who fought cancer.
“Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, so now I’m also a cancer survivor,” she said.
The fact that most everyone has been touched by cancer in some way makes the cause close to many hearts and has drawn more and more people to participate in and support the event.
“Everyone has been affected in one way or another,” she said. “And bikers are among the most giving and caring people I know.”
Bikers who want to participate can just show up at Texas Roadhouse the morning of Sat., Aug. 17.
Others can watch for hundreds of motorcycles to pass through the area.
Bikers for a Cure thanks the following for sponsoring this year’s ride: Pratt & Whitney, West Virginia Pool Construction, Inc., Livin the Dream Transport LLC, Spartan Engine Services, MHIRJ, American Bituminous Power Partners LP, North Star Technologies LLC, Local 304 UWUA in Memory of Don Ganoe, Hilltop Auto Mart &
Motorsports, KCI Aviation, Miley Legal Group, In Honor of Jeff Fox, Whiskey Rabbit, Triple S Harley-Davidson, Cook Brothers Building & Excavating, In Memory of Roberta “Berta” Ayers, PT Bike, Edward Jones Ed Aman, Perine Funeral Home, Just Janice Wreaths, Amos Paving & Excavating, Shinnston Moose Lodge #929, Jeffrey E. Gates & Associates, American Legion Riders Post 31, HQ AER Management, Inc., White Front Tavern & Grill, Currey Farms of Pruntytown, Sam Caputo’s A-1 Exterminating, In Kind Sponsors State Distributing, Beverage Distributors and RD Wilson, and, of course Texas Roadhouse and Best Western Plus Bridgeport.
Motorsports, KCI Aviation, Miley Legal Group, In Honor of Jeff Fox, Whiskey Rabbit, Triple S Harley-Davidson, Cook Brothers Building & Excavating, In Memory of Roberta “Berta” Ayers, PT Bike, Edward Jones Ed Aman, Perine Funeral Home, Just Janice Wreaths, Amos Paving & Excavating, Shinnston Moose Lodge #929, Jeffrey E. Gates & Associates, American Legion Riders Post 31, HQ AER Management, Inc., White Front Tavern & Grill, Currey Farms of Pruntytown, Sam Caputo’s A-1 Exterminating, In Kind Sponsors State Distributing, Beverage Distributors and RD Wilson, and, of course Texas Roadhouse and Best Western Plus Bridgeport.