EMMAUS, Pa. — Monkey Knife Fight 2023, described as “the hardest charity ride you'll ever love to hate,” is happening on April Fools' Day.
- Monkey Fight 2023 is a bike ride
- It will be held on April Fools' Day in Emmaus
- It has three levels of courses available, Gorilla, Baboon and Marmoset
And that is no joke.
It's a bike ride that dates back to 2009, and covers what the organizers call the steep, dirty hills of south Emmaus. It was originally started by Mark Bowman, the former owner of South Mountain Cycle & Café.
He gave it a goofy, ridiculous name because he wanted it to be a goofy, ridiculous event.
About 15 people attended the original ride, which spans 70 miles. What made the race unique, however, is at the bottom of every dirt road climb, was a race to the top.
"There was a thing on The Simpsons about how insane or how stupid a monkey knife fight would be," said Keith Plunkett, who took over organizing the ride with Dave Pryor in 2014.
"He always thought that was funny. And so that's what he called it."
Pryor has toyed with changing the name of the ride, but there's been too much pushback.
"It is hard to explain to the sponsors and media, township officials," who often ask "What you're doing? A Monkey Knife Fight?" he said.
"A simpler name would be easier to use, but everyone loves the name. And they're like, 'You can't change the name. That's exactly what it is."
Now, over 300 people join in the fun each year and raise more than $20,000 dollars. Last year, they split the money up among three organizations.
This year, all the proceeds will go directly to Dream Come True, which according to their site, "fulfills the dreams of children who are seriously, chronically or terminally ill and reside in the Greater Lehigh Valley PA area."
After the event, there's a big party to celebrate. This year, the sponsor of the party is New Trail Brewing Company, based in Williamsport, Lycoming County. Ktown Pub Food Truck from Kutztown is also likely to be there.
"It's just a really hard ride," said Plunkett. "A lot of people call it a Type 2 fun.
"It's the kind of fun that you realize it's fun once it's over, but not when you're doing it."
However, that doesn't stop people from coming back every year.
In 2014, more than 100 people joined the ride and it became too difficult to keep track of individual riders. So Plunkett and Pryor decided to take out the competitive element.
That took Monkey Knife Fight from being a race to being a ride. It's also when they saw a lot of growth.
"They really enjoy the difficultness and the camaraderie of doing something hard together."Dave Pryor, director of Marketing and Communication at the Rodale Institute
"People were fine with it," said Pryor. "They really enjoy the difficultness and the camaraderie of doing something hard together."
The biggest challenge of the ride, apart from the steep hills, is the weather. Or more accurately, uncertainty around the weather.
"April is tough in the Lehigh Valley, or in Pennsylvania itself," said Plunkett. "One year, we were chasing down ice and water. And the next year, we're picking riders off, because it's too cold."
But it's also that time of year that makes Monkey Knife Fight such a special experience.
"People come into it with a wide variety of fitness," said Pryor.
Since the ride is early in the year, it means not everyone has started training for the season.
And because the course is customizable, people can take it loop-by-loop, depending on how they're feeling.
"No one's feeling bad about themselves. They're just feeling good to be out amongst everyone else," he said. "That keeps me energized."
The pair is currently looking for sponsors to donate prizes.
"Because it's not a race," said Plunkett, "all finishers, get raffle tickets. So everyone, no matter how fast they were, has a chance to come home with a cool prize."
Past sponsors have donated biking gear, clothing and food. But their most popular item?
That would be a gigantic doll of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"It goes back to Monkey Knife Fight," said Plunkett. "Silly is good."
The race starts from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m at Emmaus Community Park, and the last riders usually finish around 4 p.m.
There are three distinct ride lengths. The Gorilla is 70 miles and has eight categorized climbs, as well as other hills. The registration cost is $70.
The Baboon is 50 miles and costs $50 to register. It is the same route as the Gorilla, but with shortcuts.
The Marmoset category is 30 miles and costs $30.
The deadline to register is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 31.