Why They Ride

The organization I work for, 1MISSION, does a charity bike ride each year. Two days, two countries, 200+ miles – from Phoenix to Puerto Peñasco.

If you’re bummed about the state of the world (including but not limited to your fellow citizens) in 2019, you should spend time with the 120ish riders who do this to raise money for people they’ve never even met.

Some of these men and women have been doing Bikes Fight Poverty for ten years now. Others are doing it for the very first time.

A bunch of the riders are local, but today I talked with a first-time rider from Detroit. Another lives in the PNW. I’m sure there are others from elsewhere. And tomorrow a group of Mexican riders will join for the second half of the ride.

We also have a sizable group of amazing and possibly somewhat strange volunteers providing food, water, medical care, massages, RV toilets, you name it. Most of all, they’re rockstars when it comes to moral support.

Anyway, it’s a delightful thing to be part of. And as fun (and exhausting!) as all of it is, the why is the best part of it all: giving more and more families in Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua the opportunity to live with dignity in a house of their own.

These families work hard. When they get the keys to their new house, they hold their heads high, knowing they’ve earned it. And tomorrow, when these 120 riders cross the finish line, those families will be there, cheering them on.

But now we sleep.