About Us – Curt's Ride To Cure Cancer

Curt’s Ride was established in 2010 as a tribute to Curt Ewald, a friend who died of cancer that year. Virtually everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. The Curt’s Ride team sets a fundraising goal each year of around $25,000 for the American Cancer Society to honor friends and family members lost to cancer.

Curt’s Ride To Cure Cancer is an annual week long, 620-mile bike ride following Florida’s East Coast Greenway to increase cancer awareness and raise funds to support the search for a cure. Each year, Curt’s Team departs from Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island (at the Georgia/Florida border) and cycles 75 to 100 miles each day to arrive at the Southernmost Point marker in Key West on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.

Except . . . well . . . this year will be different! There is pretty much not one single thing that is normal about 2020. So why should Curt’s Ride be an exception?

OK folks, here’s the deal. We had been hoping that things would heading toward a clean resolution of the coronavirus situation in Florida by the time we would be heading for the Sunshine State. But the reality is that will not be the case any time soon. Given the ongoing situation with the pandemic, there was no way that we could reasonably hold Curt’s Ride in the traditional format.

So, Curt’s Ride will not be held in Florida this year.

Instead, we are going to try something new :

The 2020 “Virtual” Curt’s Ride To Cure Cancer

(Curt’s Team Together – Apart)

This is how it works:

Rather than asking everyone to haul yourself, your bike, and your gear off to the far southeast, and then schlep everything 100 miles at a time from hotel to hotel to hotel, we are going to make it easier.

This year, each member of Curt’s Team will be riding from home (to be clear : your home, not mine).

To participate in the 2020 Virtual Curt’s Ride, you will:

– Sign up on the Curt’s Ride web site to become a member of the team (see details below)

– Set your fund-raising goals for the ride.

– Order your 2020 Curt’s Ride bike jersey (Sid is working on the design right now, more info on how to order will be coming soon)

– Each day of the ride, you will identify a local route around your neighborhood, town, county, or state.

– Pick a route that works for you, based on your choice of paths, roads, and trails that will allow you to cover the target distance for the day.

– Ride your chosen route, completing the distance at the pace that works for you.

– Each evening, we will tag up on-line to log distances, tell war stories, recount injuries, and tally the daily Curt’s Curbside Critter Carnage Count (C^5).

We will be riding every day during the first week of October, as usual. We will all still be riding together for a cure – but doing it apart!

Although we won’t be all riding the same route together, there are several advantages of the approach that we will be taking this year.

– You won’t have to pack up all your cycling stuff any schlep it off to Florida.

– No additional arrangements or expenses for lodging.

– No need to pack and unpack all your stuff from the van each morning and evening.

– Daily access to a laundry (yours) for your bike kit!

– No dodging iguanas through the Keys!

If you will be riding with us, please sign up as a Curt’s Ride team member on the Curt’s Ride page by going to http://curtsride.info/ and clicking on the “Join” link to register as a Curt’s Ride participant. As has been done for the past few years, we are using the American Cancer Society web presence as the Curt’s Ride fundraising mechanism. The previous platform on Crowdrise has been merged with GoFundMe Charity, and GoFundMe Charity is now the platform provider. If you rode with us in 2018 or 2019, your previous Crowdrise account should have transferred over and you should be able to link your existing account to the new 2020 Curt’s Ride campaign.

-Dave and Stacey

What can you do?

On behalf of those affected by cancer, the “Curt’s Ride” team members are asking for your help and support for our project. You can do this in any of several ways:

Join the “Curt’s Ride” Team. Become one of the riders, and participate in the adventure!
Get the word out. Let everyone know, and see if they will join in or lend their support.
Contribute. The fastest and easiest way to contribute is online.