NEW HARTFORD - More than 400 riders make their to the 'finish line' for the 2008 Ride for Missing Children, expecting their finish to clock in around 7 p.m.

And while they make their way into New Hartford in the evening, all the milestones they hoped to hit during their 11-hour journey are fluid numbers.

The weather was cool, the air was heavy and the hills were steep but the riders were smiling through most of their 100 mile journey.

They began to the strains of bagpipes at 7:45 a.m., an impressive sight, heading East on Route 5 side-by-side, 200 deep, in a line nearly 2 miles long, bringing a three prong message to 17 local schools.

"Check first, always be with a friend, and no, go, tell," said Frank Williams, Ride Chairman. "If someone does something to you that makes you feel uncomfortable, say no, and go tell someone - an adult you trust. If we can just get these simple rules to all those kids, we can make them safer and we'll do it one child at a time."

If the ride has a founding father, Frank Williams would be it. He helped organize the first ride of only 43 riders in 1997 in honor of 12-year old Sara Ann Wood of Litchfield who disappeared four years earlier.And he still wears her photo against his heart as he rides.

A little after 1 p.m. - riders reached the halfway point and it was time for lunch at Holland Patent Middle School. The kids made cookies for the riders, from scratch.

The training, the fundraising, the ride - all 400 riders do it in order to empower kids with the knowledge to keep themselves safe. And the riders say, they get much from the kids in return.

"Any time you start feeling a little tired or a little fatigued, next thing you know, you're turning a corner or you're in the back of the pack and you just start hearing the kids screaming and yelling and that pumps you up a little bit and that gets you to the next stop," said Todd Hobin, a rider.

If they can help one child, then all the blisters, the miles, the pulled muscles and steep hills are a small price to pay.

"The things that this organization and the stories that you hear... just break your heart," said Marie Imundo, a Rider. "And I have children of my own that I love dearly, and a granddaughter so you want to do everything that you can to keep the kids safe."