Over $60,000 was raised for St. Joseph's Hospice and Bluewater Health's Palliative Care Sunday.
Bluewater International Granfondo Chair Ken MacAlpine said the fourth annual event ran smoothly.
"The weather was very, very kind to us, probably the best weather day we've had so far," said MacAlpine. "We had close to 1,000 participants take the start line."
MacAlpine said changes made this year to include more beginner and intermediate riders paid off.
"The 30-kilometre route, which was primarily targeted to beginner cyclists, was very successful," he said. "We had about 80 people take the start line and a large percentage of them were first-year cyclists, in their first mass participation event and they were ecstatic at the finish line. High fiving everybody in sight."
But, he said the interest from new riders has created an unexpected obstacle for them.
"One of the problems we have, is we're losing volunteers because they get so excited seeing the ride, that they go out, buy a bike and they start riding. So, we're constantly looking for new volunteers. I'm sure we've lost 40 volunteers that are now riding," he said.
The results from Sunday's ride can be found here.
Registration is also underway for next year's event, August 2, 2020.
