Miracle Riders hit the road again. This time the route is a mystery, even to the riders

The Miracle Riders will hit the road again in September for their annual ride to raise money for local programs that serve at-risk children. Since 2009, Scott’s Ride has raised more than $1 million for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Campus Children’s Hospital, and more than $250,000 for the Scott’s Ride Fund established with the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley in 2016.

During the Scott’s Ride 2018 kickoff at the Community Foundation Tuesday, founding Miracle Rider Scott Ressmeyer, introduced this year’s 23 riders, including three eight-year veterans and five rookies.

Ressmeyer, a co-owner of Country’s Barbecue, said that “knowing that maybe one day there’s just one child out there that we can truly make a difference in their life” is what has kept him and his band of Chattahoochee Valley motorcycle riders going for nearly 10 years.

“Whether it be medical need that they might have, or a child that’s been taken out of a home and put into Carpenter’s Way or Arabella home,” Ressmeyer added, it’s “to let the kids know that there are folks out there who love you, and the community is behind you, and wants you to be successful and go far in life.”

Unlike past years when the men had a travel plan, this year’s ride will present a special twist for the riders. They don’t know their route, and Ressmeyer is not their skipper on the two week journey. Instead, each morning they will learn of their destination when a name is drawn from a hat, and that rider answers a trivia question that names the town they head to next.

The journey begins Sept. 12 when the riders line up at Synovus, the 2018 presenting sponsor. “When we take off,” Ressmeyer said, “I don’t know, it’s just like a kid at Christmas time, almost. We know we’re getting ready to go on this great adventure, we’re going to meet incredible people all across this country, and we’re going to tell the story about Columbus.”

Money raised this year will purchase a transport bed for the Children’s Hospital NICU, and support the Methodist Home for Children & Youth of South Georgia. For more information, visit rideformiracles.com, or visit the Facebook page at Scott’s Ride Fund.

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 10:38 AM.