Ride for Dad on the winter trails

An Eastern Ontario challenge

By Dave Baker Dave Baker is an avid outdoors enthusiast. You can usually find him hunting, fishing, trapping, and ATVing somewhere in Ontario.

April 12, 2023

Being co-chair of a Ride for Dad chapter, and with only a week left until the Second Annual Nation Valley Telus Ride for Dad, it is hard to find time to do anything, much less find time to attend another club’s rally. However, I managed to slip away to the ATV Club of Eastern Ontario’s Second Annual Winter Ride this past Saturday, both to help bring awareness to the Ride for Dad, and of course to enjoy the fabulous groomed trails of the club next door!

Each year, I challenge all of the Clubs of the Ontario Federation of All-Terrain Vehicles to join what I call the Ride for Dad challenge. I challenge each club to register a team to see which OFATV club can raise the most money for Prostate Cancer research. This year, the ATVCEO rose to the challenge, and as a club decided that $5 of each registration to their Winter Ride was going to be their pledge to the Ride for Dad Challenge!

Starting and ending at the Motel De Champlain, in Plantagenet, Ontario, ATVers came out on a sunny and warm Saturday morning to support their local club, and the Ride for Dad. ATVCEO has a vast network of groomed trails throughout the area and some unique experiences, as their trail goes right through downtown Casselman. Every time that I ride their trail system, I always find it mind-blowing to be going through downtown, past parked cars, and through traffic lights, with pedestrians and shoppers happily waving to the ATVs going by.

For those unfamiliar with groomed winter trails, ATVCEO sets the bar high with trails groomed with heavy equipment similar to what snowmobile clubs use. Their trails are wide and hard packed.

ATVCEO’s Winter Ride is a scavenger-hunt type ride. You start out with a map of the rally route and a set of questions to answer along the way. The questions make sure that you stay observant out there, looking for the windmill, or the number of flower pots on the Casselman Bridge! Even a stop at the ATVCEO warming shack is ensured, so that you can find out which sponsor’s logo is attached to the ceiling!

ATVCEO had a great turn out, and it is always nice to chum up with the members of the neighbouring club, and even some people from as far away as Toronto! ATVers galore were there, while supporting a local club, a worthy cause, and trying to win one of the fabulous prizes…win a prize if you could find the answers to the scavenger-hunt questions, that is! Each year I am embarrassed to learn that I'm not nearly as observant as I think I am!

In the end, ATVCEO raised $120 towards their Ride for Dad Challenge, and I was even able to collect some personal pledges amongst the participants of the ride. I am hoping to see most of the riders out again on March 1st, 2014 for the 2nd Annual Nation Valley Telus Ride for Dad, and for those that I don’t see there, I’ll see them next year at ATVCEO’s Third Annual Winter Ride!

Register now for your local Ride for Dad!

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About Dave Baker

An avid outdoors enthusiast, Dave is active in hunting, fishing, trapping and ATVing. He has been involved with the Nation Valley ATV Club since its inception, and is a past president of the Ontario Federations of ATV Clubs.