Thirteen Operators, One Brutal Climb

On September 26, 2026, thirteen Special Operations Forces operators rolled up to the National Ability Center's (NAC) Mountain Center. They were there to ride the NAC's annual MOFO Ride, one of the toughest charity mountain-bike challenges in the country.

For these active-duty and veteran operators, used to missions that test everything they have, it was a new kind of objective: get to the top of Puke Hill, and help raise money for adaptive athletes along the way.

Not for the faint of heart

The MOFO Ride is the National Ability Center's signature fundraiser, founded 17 years ago by longtime volunteer Craig White. The name is a polite nod to just how tough its riders have to be.

The ride brings adaptive athletes, including hand cyclists, and traditional riders together on Park City's steepest trails. The signature climb is the infamous Puke Hill atop PCMR. Every clean ascent unlocks sponsor donations, so each rider who grinds their way to the top turns sweat into support. In past years, the full route has run about 30 miles with roughly 4,500 feet of climbing, with shorter options for riders who want them.

The money goes to the National Ability Center, which opens up sports and outdoor recreation to people of all abilities: the same kind of mission Task Force Dagger lives every day.

[Photo: Going down is more fun that going up...]

Why Task Force Dagger rode

The MOFO Ride was part of Task Force Dagger's Rehabilitative Adaptive Events program, which uses shared physical challenges to help wounded, ill and injured operators recover and reconnect.

When an operator's career is cut short by injury, or simply comes to an end, one of the hardest things to lose is the team: the shared mission, the common goal, the people who have your back. A hard day on a mountain bike, climbing side by side with teammates, brings a piece of that back. So does getting out of the environment that wears people down and into the mountains for a reset.

The MOFO ride, part of a 5-day mountain bike riding week, also deepened Task Force Dagger's partnership with the National Ability Center, which has already hosted TFD operators and their partners on ski weeks (on Park City Mountain) and recently a three-day rafting trip down the Colorado River outside Moab.

[Photo: The TFD team in front of the NAC's Mountain Center at PCMR]

A record day on the mountain

The Task Force Dagger team rode alongside about 100 adaptive and traditional riders in the 17th annual MOFO. Together, the riders raised $700,000 for the National Ability Center, up from about half a million dollars the year before.

Ride with us!

Every climb on the MOFO, like every Rehabilitative Adaptive Event, is about more than the finish line. It's about operators finding their team again, and proving to themselves that the fight isn't over.

• Support the next event: your gift helps put operators and their families on the trail, the river and the reef. Donate to Task Force Dagger.
• Learn about the National Ability Center: see how the MOFO Ride supports adaptive sports for people of all abilities.
• Are you an operator who wants to ride next year? Active-duty and veteran SOF members can get in touch here.