The only thing better than riding for free is riding for free- for charity!
Ride For Peace is an event created to coincide with ‘Peace for One day,’ celebrated on around the world on the 21st of September. Adopted as a day of global ceasefire in 2001 after years of lobbying by Jeremy Gilly, Ride for Peace is a day cable parks around the world show their support and creating more awareness of the cause.
For the third year running, the owners of Thorpe cable ski took part in the event, offering free riding for 3 hours (with a donation to charity) and laid on numerous activities out of the water, a Mexican themed cuisine, auction and a raffle. Which is where I came in. My mum was organising it and asked me to extend my stay in England to ‘give her a hand.’ A week of negotiating and begging for prizes ensued, although I was pleasantly surprised at how generous the prize givers were.
Friday afternoon, the cable became alive with professional riders who’d come to give support and a diverse range of kids and adults, who’d come along to try the sport, or simply to enjoy the familial atmosphere. The sun was blazing and the queue for the cable doubling up on itself, needless to say I managed to make it round, but only a few laps!
More people arrived in the evening to enjoy the burritos and chilli, including the founder of Peace for One day, Jeremy who came down to join in at his local cable (he’s a regular rider at Thorpe).
The event was an overall success, as we managed to make a fair bit of money for the charity and were stoked with our peaceful free rides!
I hope to see you next year !
