Big Ride back by popular demand

June 3, 2025

A cancer research fundraiser that’s traveled the globe for nearly 20 years will be returning to Inverness County in June for the second year in a row.

The Big Ride, which last year saw 51 participants cycle the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail and hike the Cape Mabou trail system, will once again cruise the county’s famous trail thanks in large part to the support of local communities.

“We’ve done everything from the circumference of Iceland to Canada into the U.S. for a couple of years, different Canadian destinations and the Alps,” says Ashley Ward, who co-founded the charity Give to Live with her husband, Todd McDonald.

Give to Live has raised more than $4.2 million for various charities since 2008, and its Big Ride event, planned for June 20 to 22, 2025, will once again raise money to support the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute at Dalhousie University.

“We don’t often go back to the same location two times in a row, but the people who came with us last year absolutely loved it,” says Tracy Ashley, events and operations manager for the Halifax- based charity. “The community absolutely wrapped their arms around us.”

“It has to do with having that community response and support,” Ward says, explaining how the charity chooses its venues for The Big Ride. “It’s really important that we can give people a good experience and then things can be available to them. We have to eat, and we have to stay somewhere, and we want to take in some of the local culture, so of course Inverness County is just a shining star in that way.”

A native of Inverness, she says organizers and volunteers were blown away last year by how local communities stepped up to support the event participants.

“During their time on the trail, the word kind of got out that they would be coming through,” she says. “There’d be little coolers with water bottles, or little snacks along the trail, or there were signs encouraging the riders.”

“There was a lemonade stand that was set up and all the proceeds went to the charity,” Ward adds. “Those kinds of things just sort of popped up. We welcome that kind of stuff. It was a nice little touch for the riders who were going through.”

Registration for the Big Ride closed May 15, and instead of the Cape Mabou trails, this year’s event will feature a hike of the Acadian Trail in Chéticamp. Along with paying a registration fee, participants are required to do at least $1,000 in fundraising. This year’s three-day event will also include cycling the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, with a choice of two distances – Troy to Inverness, or Port Hood to Inverness.

Ward says she believes the success of last year’s Big Ride is due partly to the impact cancer has had on the county.

“Cape Breton has very high cancer rates, and there’s hardly a family I know that hasn’t been touched by it,” she explains. “That is really why we are out there, and when that mission really connects, that says a lot as well.”

Ward says Give to Live strives to make sure that between 85 and 90 percent of money raised goes to the charity. Last year’s event hit that goal, coming in at 88 per cent.

“We keep our costs down as much as we can,” she adds. “We’re not always doing the most luxurious thing, but we’re always making sure people are taken care of, and they have a good experience.”

One of those people was Alec MacNeil of Mabou, one of two Inverness County residents who joined the ride. The other was Laura Cormier of Inverness. MacNeil says he’d like to see more people from the county get involved this year.

“It was a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s a really important cancer fundraiser in this province and it’s a provincial event. It’s important for our county to have provincial events, and it’s great exposure for the trail and the county.”

MacNeil, who will soon turn 68, says he was surprised by how many people his age and older took part. He adds that the trail itself played a big role in having the event return for 2025.

“People feel safe riding on a trail like this,” he explains. “You don’t have to worry about traffic, and when you have such a quality trail in such a beautiful place, you don’t have to be putting yourself at risk.”

“People were impressed by people along the trail who were actually cheering us on. It wasn’t the Tour de France, but people who knew about it were cheering us as we went by.”

Ward says anyone looking to volunteer for the 2025 edition of The Big Ride should check out the event website at givetolive.ca