When:

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Where:

Staging and post-ride party at Cook's Corner
19152 Santiago Canyon Road Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679
949-858-0266

Entry Fee:

25 or 50 Mile Option - $40 before March 19 ($50 on-site)

5 Mile "Fun Ride" - $25
All entries receive free t-shirts. Children's sizes available.

Purpose:

To raise funds and build awareness for Project Rwanda.

The first 50 Mile Ride for Project Rwanda started out as a birthday ride for Doug Grant. Soon to be over-the-hill, Doug and his buddies wanted to do a 50 mile mountain bike ride to celebrate his 50th birthday back in December 2006. During the course of planning, Doug heard about Project Rwanda and decided to turn his birthday ride into a fundraiser. Teaming up with event co-founder Andy Brazelton, the two gathered their mountain bike buddies and together pulled off an incredible event in just under two months time.

Thank you to all who participated for helping make the 3rd Annual Ride4Rwanda such a great success despite a Rwandan-style rain storm. As Pascal (the coffee farmer) said in my film: "during the rainy season the roads are slippery." We counted over 50 people in the massage circle, and the final donation tally was over $2,000! Every dollar of your donations will go directly to helping get bikes to farmers like Pascal.

Big thanks to Jeannine's Bakery, The Good Cup, Equal World Coffee and Robin Himovitz for providing enough coffee and tasty treats for an army.

How do you ride "12 Hours of Temecula"? Get 305 pro, sport, junior, master, and team racers together in Temecula, California on a cold and misty Saturday morning and fuel them with Rwandan grown Wooden Bike Coffee and put them on their mountain bikes!

Our morning started with the cell phone alarm ringing at 5:45am and plugged in our only coffee brewer, a Mr. Coffee machine circa 1990. We quickly realized we would have to brew non stop to keep the two air pots full of steaming coffee. We also realized the incredible stroke of luck bestowed upon us, cold, cloudy and misty weather forecasted for the entire day! The setting was perfect to promote Project Rwanda and Wooden Bike Coffee.

Thanks to the continued generosity of Park Tools we have more tools to supply our Sister Shops program. Merlyn Townley has joined Project Rwanda to help build the first retail bike shop in Rwanda. Developing bike shops in the heart of Rwanda will help sustain the Coffee Bike Program as well as service the bike tourism industry.

So we are looking for a volunteer courier. If you will be traveling to Rwanda soon please fill out our 'MULER' form. We will ship the tools to you, then you would take them with you to Rwanda as extra luggage. We will arrange for someone to meet you on your arrival to collect it. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Sign Me Up

8 mile All-Ages Bike Ride – More than just another Saturday ride...

January 24, 2009

Goleta Beach County Park, 5986 Sandspit Rd., Goleta, CA 93117
The route will take riders inland from Goleta Beach along the beautiful Santa Barbara Bike Path. After approximately 4 miles, we will hang a right up Puente and hit the dirt at More Mesa. After cruising along the bluffs and taking in a view of the Channel Islands, we will head down to Patterson to reconnect with the bike path and make our way back to Goleta Beach. The Ride 4 Rwanda will take place on bike paths as well as dirt trails...so knobby tires are recommended.

Hi, my name is Carole Ann Waid. This year I am turning 40 and wanted my birthday to be something I could look back on with fond memories. I decided to have a Charity Gala for my party. I was so excited when my husband found Project Rwanda. We chose this as our charity since I lived in Rwanda in 1992 and 1993. I worked there as a short-term missionary with the International Mission Board. While I was there, I fell in love with Rwanda and it’s people. My best friend from Rwanda even lives in the states now and we are still in touch. I lived in the capitol, Kigali, but my work allowed me to travel all over the country and work with women from many regions. I was single and living alone, but I was not lonely because the people of Rwanda were so gracious, kind, and welcoming of me everywhere I went. I was there to teach and train women about starting and running a business, but what I always tell people, is that I learned more from the people of Rwanda than I could have ever taught them.

I recently read an article in Outside Magazine about the Project Rwanda Coffee Bike Program. After reading the article I was inspired to find a way to raise money for the Rwanda Coffee Bike Program.

On February 7th I will leave my house at 6:00 a.m. and ride one hour for every $200.00 raised. Every hour I ride funds one coffee bike. This ride will happen rain, snow, or (hopefully) shine. My goal is to raise $4,800.00 (which means I ride for 24 hours) to fund 24 coffee bikes for the coffee farmers in Rwanda. Every contribution helps, no matter how big or small.

The more you give the longer I have to ride! Keep updated by visiting my blog

"The Ride for Rwanda" was completed on Sunday, August 3rd, in Norwalk CT. It was a 3,311 mile trip that took us through 12 states of Northern America. Traveling through those states we saw many places for the first time and spread the word about the work Project Rwanda is doing. Throughout the entire trip we were encouraged by a steady stream of hospitality everywhere we went.

We can do no great things. Only small things with great LOVE.

~ Mother Theresa

THE RIDE

Well, Saturday was the ride of all rides for me. 102 miles of pleasure first and then some serious pain! It was a beautiful course through the mountains and along the Colorado and Eagle Rivers. But the last 32 miles was a huge challenge of mind over body. My right knee started hurting at about mile 40. If it weren't for a couple of Advil at mile 68, I'm not sure I could have finished. All along I kept thinking about all of the lives this ride has impacted and will impact in the future. Not just the farmers and their families, but all of you who have been on this journey with me. In some way, large or small, your lives will be, or have been, impacted. There is a much bigger picture here than any of us can see today. Someday, I believe, the BIG picture will be revealed to all of us much more clearly than we see it now.

On July 26th, the day before my 43rd birthday, I am attempting to ride my bike 100 miles(on roads) through the Rocky Mountains for the Eagle River Century Ride. It will be my first such attempt. For the past three months, I have been training hard to prepare. Last Saturday, Ashley and I rode 60 miles with 3500 feet of elevation gain. It was brutal, but we managed to get through it. The Eagle River Ride is longer but only has 2750 feet of elevation gain!?

Last year I was infected by a great cause called Project Rwanda, headed up by Tom Ritchey of Ritchey Design, a long-time bike industry leader. After taking a trip to Rwanda in 2005, Tom recognized a need for well built cargo bicycles to help coffee farmers efficiently transport their crops to washing stations enabling them to sell their coffee at a profitable price, and thus support their families and local communities. While I have not yet been to Rwanda (I hope to go this Fall), I understand that the Coffee Bike program that Tom initiated is becoming a model of success. The challenge is, the bikes are not cheap for a poor Rwandan farmer. The bikes are sold at a subsidized cost of $225 through a micro-finance program.