Skip to content

About 100 people participate in Red Deer Ride for Dad

Event raises awareness, money for prostate cancer research
30078541_web1_220814-RDA-Ride-for-Dad
The Red Deer Ride for Dad, which raises money and awareness for prostate cancer, was held Saturday. (Contributed photo)

About 100 people rode motorcycles and vintage vehicles to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research.

The fourth annual Red Deer Ride for Dad began at Turple Bros Ltd. in Gasoline Alley on Saturday morning. The ride was 310 kilometres long and brought participants all around Central Alberta.

John Kammerer, event co-chair, said 85-90 motorcycles rode in this year’s event, which is roughly twice as many as 2021’s ride.

“We had quite a few people who were riding with a passenger too,” Kammerer said, adding it’s too soon to say how much money was raised during the ride.

“We had participants who came from as far away as Cranbrook. We also had road-blockers (and other people helping) come from Strathmore, Calgary, Didsbury, Sundre and even Edmonton. People from all over came together to pull with us.”

Kammerer said at least 25 per cent of the people attending the event were women.

“I can almost quote what one of the ladies had mentioned: ‘I may not have a prostate, but the one I love does.’ They were there to support their loved ones. It was wives and girlfriends supporting the Ride for Dad as well,” said Kammerer.

There are several Ride for Dad events held across Canada each year. The original ride was established in 2000 to help save men’s lives and improve the quality of life for men and their families living with prostate cancer. Overall, Ride for Dad has raised more than $37 million, with all proceeds going to the Prostate Cancer Fight Foundation.

Kammerer said all of the money raised at the Red Deer event goes towards helping Albertans.

“We raise funds for research and awareness,” said Kammerer.

“We donate money to research labs and with the rest of the money raised, we use it for awareness. We’ll go to different functions all over the place and … while we’re there, we’re advocating for awareness. We want people to go get a blood test – it takes all of five or 10 minutes. It’s for early detection.”

The fifth annual ride next year is going to be a great celebration, said Kammerer.

To learn more about the Red Deer Ride for Dad, visit www.facebook.com/ridefordadreddeer.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
Read more