KALISPELL — Logan Health’s third annual stationary bike relay event was held Saturday in Kalispell helping raise funds for Montana children and young adults facing medical hardships.
“It makes me really proud and happy to live here, there’s no better place in the world I think,” said CycleMT participant Alejandro Caldron.
Caldron was representing two teams during CycleMT’s stationary relay event.
He loves participating each year.
“First of all, I love riding, it’s fun and the cause is just amazing, being able to help those kids that don’t have the needs for those necessary things that are needed, and you can’t afford by insurance is pretty awesome,” said Caldron.
25 teams participated with more than 200 riders in total in two different locations in Kalispell and Cut Bank.
Teams take turns pedaling for 20-minute intervals on stationary bikes, with their distances tracked in real time.
All proceeds go toward a fund supporting Montana children and young adults all across the state facing medical hardships.
“The fact that we can get a community together to come behind an event like this speaks to the hearts of the people in the Flathead Valley, that we see a need in our neighbors, we know that they need help, we can come together for a really fun event,” said Logan Health Children’s Hospital Physician Dr. Courtney Paterson.
Since 2023, CycleMT has raised more than $200,000 through peer-to-peer fundraising.
Dr. Patterson said those funds provide critical medical care that insurance might not cover.
“Asking for help with things like vehicle modifications for their child with a wheelchair that they need to be able to get back and forth to school, complex equipment for homes so that they can get their therapies to try to achieve the best developmental milestones that they can.”
Caldron said the relay is tough, but the payoff makes it all worth it.
“And you want to give up at minute five and you realize there’s still 15 more minutes, so you got to learn to pace yourself and not give up and kind of use those stories that they are talking about to kind of motivate you to not give up because those kids out there are doing amazing things, so there’s no excuses.”
You can learn more about the event here.
