Eighth annual Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19

October 07

14:51 2024

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The eighth annual Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Breckenridge City Park, offering five routes, brunch, live entertainment and a chance to help support local volunteer fire departments.

For the past five years, the organizers of the bike ride have donated all of the net proceeds to the Caddo, Hubbard Creek and Wayland volunteer fire departments of Stephens County. Last year, the bike ride raised more than $41,000 and donated more than $13,000 each to the three volunteer fire departments.

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 and the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce board of directors, serving First Baptist Church of Breckenridge through the youth ministry, and bike riding around the area. He also owned the Lonestar Laundry, which is still in operation. The annual bike ride gives his family and the Breckenridge community an opportunity to commemorate his life and help the area volunteer fire departments.

All riders must be registered for the ride, and online registration is open now through the night before the ride. The registration fee is $40 for all riders age 18 and older, and $30 for riders age 17 and younger; and that fee includes a t-shirt and brunch. Click here to register online.

On-site registration will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, in the park, and the welcome ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. The ride will begin at 9 a.m.

Returning to the event again this year to provide entertainment will be the Urban Pioneers, the “hillbilly swing” band with Breckenridge connections. They will perform at 10 a.m., and the Taqueria Oasis and Toasted Traveler food trucks will begin serving brunch at 10:30 a.m. For more details, check out the Pure Country Pedal website.

For those who would like to support the fundraiser but who do not plan to participate in the bike ride, brunch tickets are available for $10 each. Also, commemorative t-shirts are available to order for $20. Brunch tickets and t-shirts may be ordered through the registration link listed above, and additional donations may be made on the website, as well. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle drawing during the event. This year’s fundraiser will include food trucks, as well.

This year’s event will include five routes for riders to choose from:

Greenhorn – 4.22 miles
Pony Express – 7.79 miles
Buckin’ Bronc — 18.73 miles
Top Hand – 31.62 miles
Sloan’s Route – 59.07 miles

Each year, the Everett family works to secure sponsors for various aspects of the fundraiser, from routes and rest stops to brunch and entertainment and more. For more information about the businesses and individuals who are sponsoring this year’s Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride, click here to visit the event’s Facebook page.

For more information about the bike ride, visit the official website, https://purecountrypedal.com/.

Cutline, top photo: Riders in the 2023 Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride get ready to take off from the start line in the Breckenridge City Park. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 18, 2024, with corrected and additional information about the event.