On September 18 from 9am-noon more than 15 wonderful charities will support their causes by Riding for a Reason in this fun “short course” social bicycling event starting and ending at the magnificent timber-framed Vicksburg Community Pavilion.

Each Participating Charity is fielding its own team. Riders, donors and non-riding friends — click on the name of your favorite Participating Charity (below) to show your support!

Participating Charities
Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo
Generous Hands, Inc.
JDRF – Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund
Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity
Kazoo Valley AMBUCS
Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan / be nice. Program
Michigan Blind Athletic Association
Ministry with Community, Inc.
Open Roads Bike Program
Paper Technology Foundation
South County Community Services
Susan Mast ALS Foundation
Vicksburg Historical Society
Vicksburg Lions Club
YWCA Kalamazoo

… together with Bike Friendly Kalamazoo … which is organizing this exciting first-ever local event as a way to build community through bicycling.

Riding Without Fundraising
To ride in our Multi-Charity Bikeathon without formally joining a team, register here >>BikeReg<< (click on the link) and pick the Non-Fundraising category (Riding w/o fundraising) during registration. You will still pick a charity to dedicate proceeds from your registration fees or donate, knowing you will be supporting a worthy cause. You won’t be asked to raise money from your friends and family — but it would be great if you could still spread the word about the fantastic fundraising ride!

Registration Fees
Fundraising Riders
Advance (June 1 – August 31): $25 Individual; $50 Family
Last-Minute Online (September 1-14): $30 Individual; $55 Family
On site Registration (Sunday Sept 18): $40 Individual; $70 Family

Riding (w/o Fundraising)
Advance (June 1 – August 31): $30 Individual; $55 Family
Last-Minute Online (September 1-14): $35 Individual; $60 Family
On site Registration (Saturday Sept. 18): $45 Individual; $75 Family

On any given day our Fall Bike Celebration routes are hauntingly beautiful, offer stunning photo ops and are best experienced at a bicyclist’s pace. Sharp-eyed riders should be able to find at least one of the Vicksburg Quilt Trail paintings on virtually every route. No other community in Southwest Michigan has such an (on-road) feast for the eyes.

Saturday’s Bikeathon routes are scaled to fit the 9am-noon time frame and will be great for social and recreational riders and those who may want to participate on foot or with assistive devices. All will be well marked. Distances are approximate until double checked. Unexpected roadwork, detours, etc. may occur and are of course beyond our control. Actual routes will be firmed up after we mark them.

Saturday’s Multi-Charity Bikeathon (9am-noon)
Routes start & finish at the wonderful timber-framed Vicksburg Community Pavilion
Registration Opens: 8:30am Latest Registration Closes: 11am. Event Clean Up & Close: noon
Routes & Start Times Below; Starts are scheduled in waves depending on the distance.

Road Route Maps (examples here are from 2020): Climax (37mi) – Scotts Mill Park (25mi) – Vicksburg Quilt Trail North (18mi) Our Lake Cruise route (10mi) is new in 2021 for the Bikeathon. Trail Route: Vicksburg Trail (out and back as far as you want to go – no map needed – the trail starts right across the road from the Vicksburg Community Pavilion).

Technical note. Some features with Ride With GPS may require a desk-top computer in one of the steps (such as downloading a .gpx file) or for-fee accounts (such as when trying to use it on a smart phone). You may be able to get around this by accepting a free trial. We apologize but our volunteers will not be able to answer technical questions about this. This is much like any other navigational system, and RWGPS works better than most.

Printed route maps and cue sheets will be provided. Important updates may occur as conditions warrant; please check the Registration page (and emails to registered riders) before the Ride.