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New Name, Same Ride

The Peninsula Pacers, organizers of the Ride for Nature since 2010, are pleased to announce that the event will have a new name in 2015 as they welcome a new charity partner.

The ride will now be called the Peninsula Century Spring Classic and will be held in Baileys Harbor on June 20, 2015. It is the second of two Peninsula Century Rides, joining the Peninsula Century Fall Challenge in Sister Bay, held Sept. 19, 2015.

The new ride will benefit several local charities and promote Give Door County and the Door County Community Foundation.

“We’re extremely proud to have raised more than $45,000 for the Ridges Sanctuary since they asked us to help organize and grow the Ride for Nature in 2010,” says Pacers co-founder David Eliot. “And we’re especially proud of our work highlighting the important work of The Ridges in dozens of email marketing messages, public relations outreach, and paid advertising throughout the region during the last five years.”

The new name and charity program became necessary after the Ridges Sanctuary determined it could no longer provide the resources to support the growing event.

“For 26 years, the Ride for Nature has been a highly anticipated Baileys Harbor event and an important fundraiser for The Ridges Sanctuary,” said Ridges Director Steve Leonard. “Since 2010, The Ridges has partnered with the Peninsula Pacers to present the community-based event, making it a memorable experience for riders as well as a continuing benefit for The Ridges. In anticipation of the staff and volunteer resources that will be required to support the opening of our new visitor center in May of 2015, The Ridges has announced that it will not hold a Ride for Nature next year.”

In five years organizing and promoting the event, the Pacers have grown the ride from 325 participants in 2010 to almost 900 in 2014 by promoting the event and the Ridges mission in publications throughout the region and online.

The Spring Classic brings a new name and charity partner, but “the same great ride and dedication to helping and celebrating the community,” said Eliot.

The ride gives cyclists a scenic early season route through the middle of the peninsula. Held Fathers Day weekend, Saturday, June 20, 2015, the ride ends on the grounds of the Door County Beer Festival at the Baileys Harbor Town Hall Park.

Registration for the ride opens Feb. 1. For more information visit peninsulacentury.com.