Hundreds of cyclists were up bright and early on Saturday to take part in the 7th annual Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

The event got underway on Saturday and riders will cover 200 kilometres over the two days.

More than 1700 riders signed up for this year’s event and so far they've raised $7.8 M, which will go to supporting patients and families at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and 16 other cancer centres across the province.

“Currently I’m undergoing treatment for stage-four colon cancer. I’ve got chemo every two weeks so I just had chemo about 10 days ago and my 12th round and I thought it was a great way to raise awareness and try and demonstrate that a cancer diagnosis doesn’t mean you stop living your life,” said Colin Hackett, cyclist.

“The fact is cancer doesn't slow down when the economy slows down and this is proof that people persist and we're all here to help, we want to make a difference, we’re there for the cancer patients,” said Lynn Van Hyfte, from the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

“A lot of the money we get for our research gets from the foundation and we’re getting great results and we’re getting closer and closer to coming up with better diagnostic tests for prostate cancer as well as working on some different methods to treat some different cancers without giving so much adverse event for the patients,” said Catalina Vesqez, Director of the Alberta Prostate Cancer Initiative.

Riders will spend the night in Okotoks at the Pason Centennial Arena before climbing back on their bikes to head to the finish line at Canada Olympic Park on Sunday.

For more information on the 2015 Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, Click HERE.