Three years after the inaugural Ride for Clean Energy benefitting the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation, the third annual Ride got under way! On August 8th, 30 dedicated cyclists embarked on the beautiful and challenging 75 km ‘Harrison to Home’ route starting in Harrison Mills and ending in Maple Ridge. The Ride for Clean Energy is the TLCERF’s main fundraising event and has grown both in numbers of riders and donations every year. The 2015 Ride’s total was over $14,600, the biggest tally in the event’s history so far! The money raised is pivotal for the continued awarding of the Foundation’s yearly $10,000 grant to a Canadian university post graduate research project in the field of clean and renewable energy sources. Over 97% of all donations go directly to the funding of our grant for this fundamental research.
The 2015 riders had a beautiful sunny ride for the majority of the journey and luckily narrowly escaped rain at the end of the Ride. All riders started and finished together, embodying the friendly and family focused nature of the Ride. The riders were welcomed into the “After-Party” BBQ by more than 60 “Friends of the Foundation”. The party was a great mingling of committed friends and family who enjoyed the one hole golf tourney, wine tasting, a raffle who’s main draw was a bicycle print from the original watercolor by Laura Stark, and sitting or playing along Alouette River.
The Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation would like to thank all of the sponsors and volunteers that made the 2015 Ride for Clean Energy such a success! Sponsors include our Major Sponsor, Patrick O’Brien of RBC Dominion Securities, along with Local Ride, Rush Engineering and Sperling Vineyards! For our volunteers, special thanks go to our pilot truck driver Buck Shannon, our transport drivers Gordon McBeath, Brad Griffin and Mike Stark. Emily Pledge Photography for pictures during the Ride and After-party, Laura Stark for organizing the riders registrations and donations, Heather Rush for the overseeing of the kitchen with helpers Glenda Hoffman and Gigi Tran. Sarah Pledge for being our MC of the event and Roger Kocheff for organizing and running the annual Golf Tourney! Carl McBeath, Sean McBeath and Eric Rush, our Ride organizers did an outstanding job once again. And of course, a mighty ‘thank you’ is extended to our 30 riders, without whom this successful ride and the fundraising event would not have been possible – Thank you!!
The 2016 Ride plans to build on the success of the 2015 ride, again offering the full- and half-course options allowing for riders of all skill levels to participate in this amazing event. Preparations are already underway for next year, so stay tuned for upcoming details and save the date of August 6th, 2016! We hope to see everyone back next year, as well as new riders keen to share the challenge!
