NEWRY — Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation of Newry is holding its second annual NEVI Festival Bike Ride at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester to help raise money for the organization’s annual ski festival in February.
Deb Maxfield, marketing and development director of Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation, said that the money raised from the annual bike ride goes toward both the organization itself and toward funding the organization’s annual New England Visually Impaired and Blind Ski Festival.
Maxfield said that Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation is a nonprofit organization geared toward helping people with physical disabilities overcome their limitations and boundaries.
“The idea of the ski festival is to get folks realizing that we can help create opportunities for children and adults who may be handicapped or visually impaired,” Maxfield said. “We have over 400 volunteers on a yearly basis. I think that’s a pretty significant statement on the success of our program.”
The Sept. 20 bike ride has a check-in time of 7:30 a.m. and costs $45, which includes lunch and a T-shirt.
There will be routes of 10, 25 and 60 miles for participants to select from.
Maxfield said that there will be adaptive ride demonstrations throughout the day.
“We started doing that last year, because we wanted the adaptive equipment we offer to have a more significant presence,” Maxfield explained. “This year, we definitely plan to have a staff member on-site to show people how the adaptive equipment works.”
Just over 50 riders participated in the 2013 trip, Maxfield said.
“Right now, we have about 40 riders signed up, and if the weather is nice, we expect more to show up,” Maxfield said. “Our first bike ride was a success, and we expect this one to be as well. Our goal is to get folks with adaptive needs out there together.”
Maxfield also lauded Pineland Farms in New Gloucester for hosting the bike ride again.
“It’s a great destination, and they’ve been really good to us for the last two years,” Maxfield said.
To register, visit www.nevifest.org/Bike_Registration.htm.
For more information, visit www.maineadaptive.org/programs/specialty-programs/ or www.nevifest.org/
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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