Cyclists will spin through the night and into the next morning at Duquesne University this weekend, as Ruff Ride returns to Pittsburgh for a 24-hour fundraising marathon benefiting service dogs for injured and disabled veterans. The event runs from 10 a.m. Saturday through 10 a.m. Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, and organizers say anyone can take part, whether that means riding for five minutes or staying on the bike for hours.
The ride benefits Team Foster, a nonprofit that provides accredited service dogs to injured and disabled veterans, according to CBS News. Team Foster is headquartered in the Philadelphia area but brought Ruff Ride to Pittsburgh in 2020, and the organization says it has since raised more than $3 million to provide what it calls life-saving service dogs to veterans, according to Pitt's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. This year marks the sixth edition of the Pittsburgh event, which the department's writeup says draws cyclists, veterans, families, friends and local businesses.
Why Pittsburgh, and Why a Bike
The organization is named for Capt. Erick Foster, a Pittsburgh native who was born in Oil City and attended North Allegheny High School before he was killed in 2007 while engaging enemy forces in Iraq, per CBS News. Team Foster was created in his honor and now works to provide ongoing support to veteran-service dog teams long after a dog is placed. Founder and CEO Nick Liermann launched the nonprofit in 2014 to raise money for trained service dogs for injured and disabled veterans, according to Pittwire.
Those dogs are trained to help with far more than companionship. Per CBS News, Team Foster's service dogs can assist with post-traumatic stress disorder mitigation, epileptic seizure detection, blood insulin detection and panic attack disruption — specialized skills meant to help veterans manage conditions that can otherwise make daily life unpredictable or dangerous.
What Riders and Spectators Can Expect
Liermann told CBS News that Ruff Ride includes live music, food, drinks, quizzo, a midnight glow ride, a 3 a.m. BMF ride and a puppy kissing booth. He said Team Foster primarily pairs injured and disabled veterans with lifesaving, accredited service dogs, framing the overnight party atmosphere as a means to a very specific end.
Individuals, companies, service organizations and groups of friends can all form Ruff Ride teams, and teams can sponsor a stationary spin bike for the full 24 hours, according to CBS News. Every team is asked to raise at least $3,000, and organizers require a minimum of six riders per team, according to Ruff Ride's Pittsburgh event page. Riders don't have to stay on the bike the whole time — participants can ride for as little as five minutes or as long as several hours, and solo riders are welcome too, per Pitt's rehabilitation medicine department.
Getting There, and Getting Involved
Rider and volunteer registrations are open, and people who don't want to pedal can still attend, cheer on participants or make a donation, CBS News reports. Parking is free for Ruff Ride participants, volunteers and attendees at Forbes Garage, located at 1180 Forbes Avenue — about 50 yards from Cooper Fieldhouse, according to the event's own registration page.
The Pittsburgh event has grown considerably since its first year, when it launched as an outdoor spin relay at Schenley Plaza rather than an indoor fieldhouse event. At that inaugural gathering, 11 teams each took an assigned spin bike and rode from noon Friday to noon Saturday, according to The Pitt News. By 2021, the event had become a full 24-hour cycling marathon, still staged at Schenley Plaza, per Pittwire.
Fundraising totals have climbed in the years since. A 2022 Ruff Ride raised more than $80,000, enough to help train and place three service dogs, the same CBS News report on Team Foster's impact noted. The following year, 25 teams took part in a Ruff Ride that raised more than $100,000. Team Foster and its partner organizations have placed around 400 dogs with veterans altogether, according to that CBS News account.
Team Foster has also taken the concept beyond Pittsburgh, expanding Ruff Ride to New York City for a 24-hour event held in late March, according to the organization's own newsroom. That same newsroom post recapped the most recent Pittsburgh Ruff Ride, reporting that riders, sponsors and supporters raised over $62,000 to help pair service dogs with veterans with disabilities.
