Ninth annual Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride scheduled for Oct. 11 in Breckenridge

September 29

13:31 2025

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Every year for the past eight years, the Everett family of Breckenridge has hosted a bicycle ride in memory of Sloan Everett, and for the past six years they have raised funds for local volunteer fire departments. The memorial bike ride will continue this year on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the Breckenridge City Park.

The ninth annual Sloan Everett Pure Country Pedal Memorial Bike Ride is scheduled to begin with on-site registration at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the Breckenridge City Park, offering five routes, lunch, live entertainment and a chance to help support local volunteer fire departments. A welcome ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., and the ride will begin at 9 a.m.

For the past six 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 $42,000 and donated more than $13,000 each to the three volunteer fire departments. This year’s goal is $50,000.

In total, since 2019, the Sloan Everett Memorial Foundation has donated $174,764.16 to the VFDs. Each year the amount has increased, and the foundation has added other fundraisers and sponsorship opportunities to benefit the VFDs throughout the year.

The bike ride was organized in 2017, just a few months after Sloan Everett, along with two others, 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, in addition to being a business owner. 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. The registration fee is $45 for all riders age 18 and older, and $30 for riders ages 13-17; that fee includes a t-shirt and brunch. Kids ages 12 and younger may register to ride for free, with an option to purchase lunch ($10) and/or a t-shirt ($20) separately. Click here to register online.

This year’s lunch entertainment will be provided by The Self Band, a family group from Ovalo that includes Matt, Joanna, Samuel, Sadie and Maura Self, offering country and Americana tunes. 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, lunch tickets are available for $10 each. Also, commemorative t-shirts are available to order for $20. Lunch tickets and t-shirts may be ordered through the registration link listed above, and additional donations may be made on the website, as well.

The bike ride includes 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 2024 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. 11. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)