Ella Hay, Rena Hamilton, David Hamilton, John Hamilton, Andrew Hamilton, Forrest Hamilton, Jessie Hamilton, Jim Hamilton, Jarrid Rich, Helen Anscombe, Janet Bailey, Judy Boucher, Brenda Bryan...

The list is much longer and growing.

Cochrane resident Bill Hamilton, 52, isn't alone on his bike in this weekend's Ride to Conquer Cancer. His bike now bears the names of 57 people, family, friend and families of friends.

"Every one of these individuals and their families has had to battle with this terrible disease and it is in their honour that I am taking part in the ride," says Hamilton.

It's his fifth time participating. He rode his first three years with a TransCanada Turbines team. After a six-year break, he became part of Jarrid's Team last year.

Cochranite Jarrid Albert Rich, the father of two young children, lost his battle with cancer on March 7, 2013. He was only 28 years of age.

Jarrid had a rare form of sarcoma lung cancer which was diagnosed in 2010. He fought through extensive chemotherapy and surgeries and astounded family and friends by riding in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2011 and 2012.

Hamilton says he never met Jarrid but remembers his inspiration speech at the 2012 ride's opening ceremony. Jarrid encouraged all to ride together to face the challenges head-on in contributing to find a cure for cancer.

Since 2012, Jarrid's Team has raised about $300,000.

Beyond the valuable funds raised, each ride is memorable.

"The emphasis is on being a ride and not a race so even if you don't need to stop, it's a good experience to stop at every check stop. You get to meet people and hear their stories. It's a really awesome experience and it's very emotional when you hear the challenges people face. It's a great event."

Ryan Campbell, director of corporate relations for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, says the funds raised by the ride is unbelievably important to the supporting breakthrough cancer research and care at the Alberta Cancer Foundation and 17 other centers across Alberta.

"It's just amazing to see the support that we have for this event from the community."

The 1,255 riders will be pedalling 200-kms plus over the next two days. They started at the Shane Homes YMCA on Rocky Ridge Rd. shortly after 7:30 a.m. this morning. Part of their route includes stretches of secondary routes east and north of Cochrane. They'll also be travelling a section of Hwy. 22 from Cremona north today after a lunch break in the village.

"Safety is the number one goal of this event. Fundraising is important, but we want to make sure everybody is incredibly safe," says Campbell.

"We have tons of traffic control, we have signage, the police are involved. We encourage motorists to use alternate routes. For the most part, we send the riders down secondary highways so it's not as much of an impact."

Smoke has been an issue the last couple of rides but the skies are clear this year and it should be a sunny and moderate warm weekend. 

"Every year has a theme related to weather," says Campbell. "Hopefully this is the year of the perfect weather."

Early this morning it was announced this year's event help raise $5.9 million. In 11 years, it has raised $80.9 million.