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Bike ride benefits cancer research

Organizers for the first annual Canary Century charity bike ride on the Peninsula, set for Saturday, May 28, are offering incentives to increase participation.

Anyone who raises $1,000 or gets five other to register in April will receive the bright yellow Canary Century jersey and shorts designed for the ride .

The ride is sponsored by the Canary Foundation, a Palo Alto nonprofit that focuses on early detection of cancer. Half the funds will go to the Canary Center at Stanford and the other half to the Stanford Cancer Center, said Emily May, a spokesperson for the foundation.

All rides start between 6 and 9 a.m. and finish by 5 p.m. with a barbecue at the VA Palo Alto HealthCare System at 3801 Miranda Ave. The planned routes are 100-, 62- and 31-miles long, winding through Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Woodside and Portola Valley, and to the coast and back.

Early registration is encouraged, but riders may sign up on ride day. The fee is $100 to register, and each participant must also agree to raise at least $400 in donations.

Organizers are looking for local companies to sponsor teams.

Depending on the donation level, riders will receive gifts such as a custom Cervelo race bike and time with celebrity riders.

Members of Team Garmin-Cervelo will have just competed in the Amgen Tour of California and plan to ride in the Canary Century. Masters national champion John Novitsky of Woodside and Stanford Provost John Etchemendy are riding, too.

Go to CanaryCentury.com for more information and to register.