Courage Ride comes to Washington County Saturday

The 17th Annual Courage Ride will be traversing through Washington County on Saturday.

This year’s ride features two start/finish locations, one in Iowa City and the other at the Washington County Fairgrounds.

Festivities at the Washington County Fairgrounds begin with registration, breakfast and live music by Dave Zollo.

Riders leaving from the fairgrounds have the choice of three routes.

The shortest is a 17-mile Washington to West Chester ride.

There is a 28-mile Kewash Trail only, Washington to Keota ride.

The longest ride from the fairgrounds is a 35-mile Washington to Keota ride along 250th Street and Hemlock Avenue to West Chester, then Ginkgo Avenue and 190th Street to Keota.

The annual Courage Ride raises funds and awareness for sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

All proceeds from the Courage Ride go to the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Sarcoma Research Program.

Since the first ride in 2005, Courage Ride has raised more than $660,000 for sarcoma cancer research.

The Courage Ride is dedicated to the memory of Seth Bailey, the son of founders Tom and Jackie Bailey. Seth was diagnosed with soft-tissue synovial sarcoma cancer and died in 2003.