Local bicycle enthusiasts will join a rolling poker game August 14 that begins and ends at the Morro Bay Community Center.

Riders ante up a registration fee of $40 to participate in the benefit that awards prizes for the best poker hands. Up to 75 riders will choose from either a 25K or 50K route.

Riders will be dealt cards from standard poker decks at supported rest stops and later enjoy a thank-you lunch, while volunteers score the hands and award prizes.

The prizes, lunch, tech and sag support have all been generously donated by local businesses including The Cambria Pines Lodge, Morro Bay Subway, Morro Bay Spencer’s Fresh Markets, Cambria Bicycle Outfitters, Art’s Cyclery , VeloWear Team Apparel, and Foothill Cyclery, as well as Brown Butter Cookies and Rogue Wave Café, both in Cayucos.

SLO Hep C Project Executive Director Edie Kahn hopes the bike riders will raise public awareness of this hidden epidemic, as well as bring in sorely needed program funding. Kahn also hopes this event will grow to become an annual event with more riders and business community participation.

Proceeds from the ride will be used to help meet the needs of people living with hepatitis C in our county.  A largely unrecognized disease, Hep C is more prevalent than HIV / AIDS and is the leading cause of liver cancer and liver transplantation nationwide. 

With health counseling, benefits counseling, volunteer assistance and an in-house food pantry, the SLO Hep C Project strives to improve the health outcomes for people struggling with this disease.  

For the last 10 years, the project has also focused on increasing public awareness through educational outreach in San Luis Obispo County.

For more information, visit www.slohepc.org.