 |
| Bike-A-Tho |
Over three hundred riders braved the sweltering heat on Sunday June 8th and made heroic rides. What a day! At 8:30 in the morning people were already sweating and looking for shade from the punishing sun as the line to check in for the 62 mile race stretched across the field (there were twice as many riders this year than last). Heat and humidity made the hard pedaling on the rides all the more challenging for all 15, 25, and 62 riders, but reports keep pouring in at BNB from riders who had a great day, who kept cool with fun and camaraderie.
The event accomplished to raise $105,000. Bikes not Bombs! more than doubled their fundraising record. This is an unbelievable success which will allow them to keep up with its expansions in youth leadership and international work.
The Green Roots Festival afterparty was also fabulous, Elijah Evans, David McDonald, Nzhinga Webster, and Darren Fenty of BNB's youth programs were amazing with the 30+ piece Branches Pan Groove Steel Orchestra (Dave and Elijah even rode the Bike-A-Thon before they played), and the keynote speakers: Bill McKibben, Khalida Smalls, City Councilor Chuck Turner, and BNB Director Kim Foltz made inspiring speeches – tying together the workshops' themes. The Green Roots Festival was a great sharing place for folks of all different walks of urban life to explore ways to deepen their environmental knowledge and action, and it made some true connections for BNB to work with other environmental organizations more closely in the future.
I covered the event as much as I could given the fact that my husband and I were driving the following vehicle for the 15 mile race.
I am very proud to have been a part of this event and I am already looking forward to next year's ...
