Rides and Rods benefit for Autism Speaks: Destination Central City
200 Riders enjoy casinos and Main Street party
“There’s no other place like this,” Mykala Houser, said as she looked up Central City’s Main Street, crowded with vendors, shoppers and children pretending to be ping-pong balls in the Bounce Castle. Houser is the chief organizer of the Annual Rides and Rods Scavenger Run, an Autism Speaks fundraiser benefitting autistic children. Central City’s public relations consultant Meghan Dougherty arranged for Central to host the riders. The event brought around 200 visitors, most on motorcycles, from Denver’s Hotel VQ (by Invesco Field), through Wheat Ridge, Evergreen and Idaho Springs before culminating with the street party and casino play time in Central City on Saturday, August 28th. Along the way, participants had to find certain items and/or participate in “Minute to Win It” competitions.
The first riders arrived in Central around 11 o’clock Saturday morning. Food vendors offered hamburgers, hotdogs, pulled pork, roast beef, steak, barbecue and other sandwiches along with all the fixin’s. Other booths offered candy, cookware, clothing, jewelry, motorcycle services and air brush tattoos. Coors donated the beer flowing from the beer booth. Fortune paid for “Reckless Red,” the “we’re kind of rockabilly blues” band. Century Casino offered discounted hotel room rates and pitched in with ice for the beer booth. Houser said there were a “bunch” of sponsors and folks who had donated money or time to help bring off this event.
Turn-out this year was far better than the 60 or so riders last year, due in part to the great weather, said Houser. Last year it was rainy and cold and the riders ran into snow at high altitude in the mountains. Still, they raised nearly $2,000 last year with that event, and Houser said hopes for this year are $5,000. It is only the third year for the ride and the second year for having it in Central (the first year was in Evergreen). The destination is different from other events, said Houser, who also organizes pub crawls and other events in the metro area, “People like it here. There’s ambiance, good people and a lot of fun. We hope to keep coming back,” she concluded.