Riders on Beaty Street near the start of Saturday's Polar Bear Ride. More photos below. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

About 325 cyclists braved the cold and a surprise mid-route snowstorm Saturday in the 13th annual Polar Bear Ride on the roads of north Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.

The annual ride, organized by the Rocky River Road Club, started and finished at Ingersoll Rand, off Beaty Street in Davidson. Some riders chose a 50k ride, while others rode a metric century – 100 kilometers, or 62 miles.

The community ride is always a cold one, but this year’s event included an unexpected feature: A 15- or 20-minute snow squall as riders made their way through Rowan County around midday. Most had never ridden in a snowstorm before, and a few called it quits. But most stayed on the road, according to Jim Mead of Davidson, one the race coordinators.

“A very few called in a ride, but that was it,” Mr. Mead said. “Most people roughed it, they were just toughing it out. The most commonly used word I heard was ‘epic.’”

Davidson resident George Berger was among the riders. He said in a note: “I was about 20 miles into the 62-mile Polar Bear Metric Century when we got hammered with about 25 minutes of decent-to-heavy snow up in Rowan County. Coupled with consistent, gusty wind, it was tough to mental our way through. But I’d guess most of us did, and we’re happy about it,”

A portion of riders’ entry fees will help support the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. Organizers had not tallied entry fees as of Sunday.

More information about Rocky River Road Club can be found on its website, RockyRiverRoadClub.org.

2011 POLAR BEAR PHOTOS

Click on any image to start a slideshow of photos by David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net. See a giant gallery of photos from the ride by photographer/cyclist Ron Donson at http://www.donsonphoto.com/