Ride 4 Heroes

Race Details:

Due to COVID-19, we are unable to host the 3rd annual Ride 4 Heroes as we know it. In order to continue supporting Blue Skies for Good Guys and Gals Warrior Weekend to Remember, we decided to host the 2020 event virtually to provide a safe alternative to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, active military, veterans and first responders.

We are asking all registrants to ride 22 miles on a day of their choosing, between August 14 - August 31. We chose 22 miles in order to bring continued awareness to the 22 veterans each day that commit suicide.

**Are you a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one? Call the Veterans Crisis Line at (800) 273-8255.)**

During your ride, please stop in a safe place and snap a photo of yourself/motorcycle and post it on social media using the hashtag #Ride4Heroes as we'd love to see your participation in our event. As a thank you, each registrant will receive an event t-shirt, shipped to the address given during registration.

Not a motorcycle owner? Become an event fundraiser and encourage others to ride or donate to our cause. The top male and female fundraisers for our event will receive a gift card/basket!

Our Story:

Our son Taylor (LCpl Taylor B. Prazynski USMC) was killed in action in the Al Anbar province in a town called Kharma, Iraq on May 9, 2005. A few days after we received the knock on our door, we were notified of a newspaper article written about Taylor and it mentioned that several other soldiers were wounded in the same attack. We knew we could not help Taylor, but we wanted to help those who were wounded (his brothers and sisters in arms). We asked for donations in lieu of flowers at his visitation and raised approximately $15,000 that we eventually donated to a military charity.

About a month later, friends of ours came up with the idea to raise additional funds by hosting a motorcycle ride to honor Taylor. That same year, Fairfield soldiers Pfc Timothy Hines and LCpl Michael Cifuentes were also killed in Iraq. The second ride honored these soldiers. As the events continued, the event committee chose to honor all fallen heroes whose family had requested their soldier to be remembered during the ride.

In 2008, tragedy struck in a different way as our group of motorcycles were leaving Houston Woods State Park. A storm blew in way ahead of the weather report and our friends Tom & Stephanie Bobbinger were killed when their bike was hit by a falling tree.

After 13 successful years, the ride as we knew it came to an end as the ride organizers retired. A new committee was formed, comprised of friends who helped organize and support the original event. We decided we all wanted to continue the good work to honor the fallen and Tom & Stephanie, so Ride 4 Heroes was established in 2018.

We are proud to continue honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, active military, veterans and first responders during our Ride 4 Heroes and sincerely thank everyone for your support in the past and in the future.

-John and Carol Prazynski