The 23rd annual Habitat 500 Bike Ride will soon be coming through the Spring Valley area as 120 cyclists and 33 volunteers begin the 500-mile journey through southern Minnesota on July 12.
Bennet and Susan on the 2013 Habitat 500 ride.
Hosted by Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota, the ride raises money for providing simple decent and affordable housing for families in need.
In order to be in the ride, participants are required to raise a minimum of $1,000, though Habitat for Humanity representatives say the riders continue to fundraise well past that dollar amount.
Last year the ride raised over $520,000. Since taking over the event in 2002 Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota has been able to raise $3.94 million.
2014 – Ride stops in Little Falls, MN – photo credit: Renee Cosgrove
Riders are able to see the impact of their fundraising when the ride stops in the community with the yearly bike.home. build where riders have the option of working on the home. This year’s project is in Winona and will be hosted by Habitat for Humanity Winona-Fillmore Counties.
The ride will begin in Owatonna, then travel through Albert Lea, Spring Valley and Winona before making a brief stop in La Crosse and returning to Winona.
On July 16, the group will head back through Spring Valley before completing their journey back in Owatonna.
Riders will be coming to the Spring Valley area on Monday, July 13, where they will camp at the Kingsland High School overnight with Valley Christian Center hosting a dinner for the cyclists and volunteers at 6:30 p.m. Our Savior’s Lutheran Church will be providing the group’s breakfast on Tuesday, July 14, at 6 a.m. before the riders head east on County Road 12 from Spring Valley to travel through Wykoff and Fountain and then onto the Root River Trail until Rushford on their way to Winona.
The ride will come back the same route on Thursday, July 16, where cyclists and volunteers will once again stay at the high school overnight. Our Saviors Lutheran Church will be providing the group’s supper. Breakfast will be served by The Knights of Columbus at St. Ignatius Catholic Church before the bicyclists travel east again on County Road 12, wind north to Wykoff and then west and north to Kasson.
The riders are coming from at least 12 different states, including California, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Nearly 86 percent of these cyclists are returning riders for the event.
“I know that the communities we have visited have benefited from the ride as it highlights their local Habitat projects and they often have riders who are fundraising for them. But I have to say they have had equal or greater effect on me,” says Jeri Lake, a rider participating for her 15th ride this year. “I have met so many people who are not only committed to the work of their local HFH chapters, but who open their schools, churches and hearts to us…and [do] everything they can to help support complete strangers raising money for other places because the Habitat cause means so much to them too.”
See many of the fun photos posted from past rides, here on their website.
Source: Bluff Country News Group
