UPAF Ride for the Arts Raises Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars for Local Groups

Cool weather helped make for an easy ride for cyclists completing this year's UPAF Ride for the Arts sponsored by Miller Lite.

UPAF is the United Performing Arts Fund and is supported through this Sunday's ride and by many sponsors including CBS 58.

"I did the 70 mile route and we rode up to Port Washington, turned around, and came back," cyclist Chris Cornelius said.

"The view was fantastic. It's always a great ride. And this is a great part of the country to ride your bike in," Cornelius said while describing the lakefront course.

Cornelius is an architecture professor at UW-Milwaukee and he said 'the arts' are an important part of his students need to know. The United Performing Arts Fund is an umbrella organization funding 15 different local arts groups helping with their education and community outreach programs.

"So we like to do rides like this especially ones that have a cause or ones where we can help out cause we just love riding our bikes So you might as well do it for a good cause," Cornelius said.

The fund-raising goal for this year's event was $600,000. The event's website shows them to be just short of that goal as of Sunday afternoon - but some day-of donations may still be getting counted.