Riding for a Reason: NE Tour de Shuls

 The New England Region of the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (FJMC) held its fourth annual Tour de Shuls on Sunday, June 5th.  The Tour de Shuls is a structured charity bicycle ride going from synagogue to synagogue. The ride benefits the Tikvah program at Camp Ramah in New England, a favored program that the New England FJMC has supported for many years.

The event is four separate rides of 75, 50, 25 and 10 miles. This year, as it did last year, the four rides all commenced, at staggered times, from Temple Emunah in Lexington. The riders followed the marked path on the ground in their journeys. Along the way, riders stopped at different synagogues for a rest, with the riders on the longest ride (75 miles) stopping at Temple Aliyah in Needham, Temple Beth Torah in Holliston, Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham, Congregation Or Atid in Wayland, and finally back to the starting point, at Temple Emunah in Lexington. The other rides followed subsets of this route. The rides were designed such that all riders arrived back at Temple Emunah during a similar time frame.

Benefiting from fantastic riding weather, the approximately 60 riders had a great time, and the ride came off without a hitch. In addition to paying a registration fee, riders raised funds for Tikvah through donations in honor of their participation. The event also benefited from sponsorships from Powder House Mortgage Company, Roche Bros. supermarkets, and Cycle Loft bicycle shop.  The event raised about $5,500 so far (final amount still to be tallied) for the Tikvah program.  

Tour de Shuls is featured in the current (Summer 2011) edition of CJ: Voices of Conservative Judaism, which can also be found online.

To view a photo gallery from the event, please click here.

For more information, please visit the Tour de Shuls web site, at www.tourdeshuls.org.