About 100 adaptive and nondisabled riders gathered for the 17th annual National Ability Center MOFO ride.
Event founder Craig White said the event offers something for everyone.
“This ride is so demanding, and everybody has a different challenge,” White said. “You ride it one year, you make up your mind whether you’re going to get in good enough shape to be to do it the following year, there’s certain challenges … that’s kind of life in a nutshell for all of us."
The event offers different tiers, ranging from the 30-mile full course with 4,500 feet of elevation gain to the 14-mile adaptive-only version. Each track, except for the Round Valley MOFO, requires athletes to climb 475 feet up Puke Hill. Riders also summit Pladsen Hill in Round Valley.
Alpine Skiing Paralympian and five-time MOFO rider Matthew Brewer said he returns to the event for the community.
“Every year it’s amazing,” Brewer said. “It’s my favorite event of the year. It’s just an amazing opportunity to spend time with old friends and meet new ones.”
The event fits with the National Ability Center’s mission of opening doors to people with disabilities, said program specialist Cassidy Craige.
“I find so much joy and for myself in recreating,” Craige said. “And, so, being able to do that in a community where we get to say yes to everything in places that a lot of people hear the word no, and that is pretty incredibly special.”
White said the National Ability Center motivates him to keep recreating as a nondisabled person.
“We get so inspired by these adaptive athletes that they can pick themselves up and they can do the same stuff again,” White said. ‘When I’m out skiing, I see adaptive skiers that can outski virtually anybody on the mountain. And when I bike, I can’t tell you how many times I see adaptive riders, and they got a smile ear to ear.”
White said this year’s event raised $700,000. He said the funds come from $1,000 entry fees, private donations and corporate sponsors.
He said his goal is to raise one million dollars for the MOFO in 2029 and match it with another million each year for the next five years to endow the event.
