Ryde-a-Thon Raises $4,129 for PEAC

Saturday's Ryde-a-thon raised more than $4,000 to benefit a local charity dedicated to helping people with disabilities enjoy the benefits of cycling

Held Feb. 11, Ryde On! Cycling Studio hosted its first annual Ryde-a-thon to benefit Programs to Educate All Cyclist (PEAC).

In just five hours 120 volunteers and seven local sponsors raised more than $4,000.

“The response to this event was fantastic—especially for a first-year event!,” said PEAC Community Liaison Liz Horvat. “We had originally planned on a four-hour event but we had so many registrations that we had to expand it to five hours. We're extremely grateful to [RydeOn! co-founders] Brigid, Christina, and their fantastic instructors for all of their hard work making this fundraiser a huge success for us.”

The owners of RydeOn! were happy to help.

“When we opened RydeOn! in October of 2011, one of our goals was to be a business that serves our wider community,” said RydeOn! co-founder Brigid Lossing. “Christina (Turner) and I had a great time putting this together, our clients loved it, and we're definitely looking forward to improving on our success next year.

PEAC was founded in 2004 by John Waterman, a public school teacher, in response to an accident where a student with special needs at his school was severely injured by a car while riding his bicycle. The program provides cycling classes to people with disabilities and to those who wish to act as trained cycling companions to people with visual impairment and other disabilities.

While total donations are still being tallied at the time of this release, preliminary reports put the final amounts raised at a minimum of $4,129. Local event sponsors included Afternoon Delight, Busch's Fresh Food Market, Performance Bike and Tree Fort Bike from the greater Ann Arbor area, with Lenny's Copy Center of Ferndale contributing a jersey from Detroit Lions' running back Jahvid Best.

RydeOn! Saline cycling studio is located at 450 East Michigan Avenue in Saline. The studio provides indoor cycling classes to residents of Saline and the surrounding areas, including southwest Ann Arbor. For more information visit the RydeOn! website at: http://www.rydeonsaline.com

(This article was sent in by PEAC.)