Annual Pure Country Pedal bike ride to honor legacy of Sloan Everett, raise funds for VFDs
The fifth annual Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16, in the Breckenridge City Park, offering five routes, from the 4-mile family route to a challenging 59-mile route.
The Urban Pioneers will perform during the lunch, following the bike ride. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Two years ago, the organizers of the bike ride decided to make the event a fundraiser for local volunteer fire departments. That practice continues this year, and net proceeds will go to the Caddo, Hubbard Creek and Wayland volunteer fire departments of Stephens County.
The bike ride was organized in 2017, just a few months after Sloan Everett died saving cattle from a wildfire on a ranch in the Texas Panhandle. Everett graduated from Breckenridge High School in 2000 and was involved in a variety of local activities, including serving on the Stephens Memorial Hospital Board, serving First Baptist Church of Breckenridge through the youth ministry, and bike riding around the area. The annual bike ride gives his family and the Breckenridge community an opportunity to commemorate his life and help the area volunteer fire departments.
Returning to the event again this year will be the Urban Pioneers, the “hillbilly swing” band with Breckenridge connections. They will perform during the lunch following the bike ride.
On-site registration will be from 7:30 to 8 a.m., and the event will officially start at 8:30 a.m. with a welcome. The ride will begin at 9 a.m.
All riders must be registered for the ride. The registration fee is $35 for all riders age 18 and older and $25 for riders age 12 to 17, and that includes a t-shirt and lunch. Those younger than 12 can ride for free but still must be registered; t-shirts and meal tickets for those age 12 and younger will be sold separately.
Those interested in riding in the event can register online on the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce’s website, https://breckenridgetexas.com/2021pcp. T-shirts will only be guaranteed for those who are registered on or before Thursday, Sept. 30; after that, t-shirts will be subject to limited availability.
For those who would like to support the fundraiser but who do not plan to participate in the bike ride, lunch tickets are available. Also, commemorative t-shirts are available to order. Lunch tickets and t-shirts may be ordered through the link listed in the above paragraph.
This year’s event will include five routes for riders to choose from:
- Greenhorn – 4.2 miles
- Pony Express – 7.8 miles
- Bucking Bronc — 18.7 miles
- Top Hand – 31.6 miles
- Sloan’s Route – 59.07 miles
For more information, visit the Chamber’s website, stop by the office at 100 E. Elm, or call 254-559-2301.
Cutline, top photo: Bike riders gather at the starting line for last year’s Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride. This year’s event is scheduled for Oct. 16 in the Breckenridge City Park. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
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