The weather for the ride was great as we all lined up our bikes. 300 participants parked for a moment to hear orientation information and enjoy coffee and waffles courtesy of the ride.
And then we were off!
With hard working event volunteers waving to us on our way
There were lots of people waiting along the route to wave to and support the riders. Many families brought kids outside to enjoy the day and to see the bikes.
The ride itself was beautiful! It changes every year, so there's more fun to be expected in 2014
We enjoyed countryside views and rode through lovely downtown Ellicott City.
After we returned, we enjoyed a boxed lunch and got to hear from some of the kids and rising stars. Personally, this was my favorite part of the day. The kids are truly inspiring and seeing them speak so proudly about their goals (like traveling and becoming an oncologist) made us at Motorcycle Times want to recommit ourselves to helping raise even more funds for next year's ride! We also heard an enlightening speech from Dr. Chetan Bettegowda (Johns Hopkins) telling us exactly where the funds we raise go and what they do to help kids and advance research. Finally, the kids got to help reveal the total raised before the ride...
$140,043
And even better news... after the event a supplemental $10,690 was raised resulting in a grand total of
$150,733.40.
A special thank you to all of the participants, organizers, volunteers and to the police officers who gave their time to help us ride safely. If you would like to volunteer your time or money for this wonderful cause, go to http://www.curethekids.org/rideforkids/ now and find out how or stay tuned and join our Motorcycle Times team for next year's ride!
