Attaboy Ride for men's cancers will start in Farmington June 17

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In Kari Mitchell’s world, the bicycle is a powerful tool in the fight to do good. For the past four years, she has run a charity bike ride to raise money for breast cancer charities. Now she’s turning her attention to men and bringing her bikes to Farmington.

The ReMax Results Attaboy Ride will start and end at the Dakota County Fairgrounds on Father’s Day, June 17. It will raise money for four charities that focus on men’s cancers.

Mitchell, who runs the nonprofit Charity Events of Minnesota, said the Attaboy Ride grew out of conversations she heard at her breast cancer rides.

“We heard many stories of men facing cancer,” Mitchell said. “We realized men have a tendency to stay more tight-lipped.”

Mitchell hopes the Attaboy Ride will provide a safe, fun way to bring attention to the cause.

“We think biking has a manly element,” Mitchell said. “We thought this would be a great tool for men.”

There will be four route options at the ride. A nine-mile, family-friendly route is the shortest. The longest is 62 miles. There will be music and a picnic at the fairgrounds when the rides are over.

Mitchell is not a serious biker. She calls herself a “cause cyclist.” Nearly 20 years ago she rode her bike to Chicago as part of an organized aids ride, and she continues to recognize the value of bicycles.

“I think bikes are great because you can coast,” she said. “When you go out and run and walk, if you stop you don’t go anywhere…. It’s a really fun sport, and anyone really can do it. It’s fun. It brings people back to their childhood.”

According to the Attaboy Ride website, registrants have already raised more than $18,000. Mitchell hopes to draw between 100 and 300 riders for this year’s event, and she hopes it will grow in the years to come. Her breast cancer ride, which she will hold for the fifth time in August, has raised more than $300,000.

Money raised at the Attaboy Ride will go to Open Arms of Minnesota, the Angel Foundation, the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota and Sage Scopes, a health department program to provide free colonoscopies.

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