Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 29th annual Ride for Roswell takes place this weekend with some 8,200 cyclists riding trails to raise money for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The goal for this year's fundraising efforts is $6 million.
"We're riding together to end cancer, and the $6 million that we are on a mission to raise this year will make a difference for the patients of today and the patients of tomorrow," said Andrea Gregory, director of Ride for Roswell.
Gregory says the weekend starts Friday at the University at Buffalo.
"We have our Celebration of Hope, where our ride ceremonial torch will be lit. We have our parade of teams, where we're going to be honoring our different teams that have raised significant amounts of money. And we have our Peloton, which will ride from Roswell Park's campus to the University at Buffalo, really bringing the spirit of the ride with them," Gregory said with WBEN.
Then on Saturday, there will be a new and improved kids zone at UB.
Gregory says riders have nine distances to choose from, from four miles to 100 miles.
"We have our shortest distances for the bike path, then they go up from there, with 10, 20 and 30 miles, going out towards, what we call, the river routes. Then we have, for our more endurance-based cyclists, things that range on the country side of things all the way up to 100 miles," Gregory detailed.
She adds there is a Canadian route, 45 miles from Roswell Park, over the border and back to the UB North campus.
Since the first Ride in 1996, the Ride for Roswell has raised more than $72 million for cancer research and patient-care programs at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.