Bike Tour Kicks-off in California

Cheering as the bikers pushed off from La Jolla Beach, California, dozens of well-wishers joined Friendship Circle of San Diego this past Sunday for the start of the third annual cross-country Bike 4 Friendship.

The attendees of the kick-off party gathered to give encouragement to the 11 bikers, who are cycling 3,100 miles across the United States in support of the Friendship Circle, a dynamic Jewish network that caters to children with special needs and their families.

The first leg of the 7-week-long trek has quickly taken the bikers out of the lush landscape of La Jolla and into the sparse desert lands of eastern California and Arizona.

With temperatures rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a daily basis, the bikers are spreading their message of hope in cities and towns all along their route.

Already, Team Friendship has appeared on the radio in Blythe, California, received a welcome from the mayor of Brawley, California, and been featured in the Imperial Valley Press.

After spending Shabbos in Phoenix, Arizona, the dedicated group will continue on to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the second segment of the trip, before ultimately winding down in New York City on August 4.

Friendship Circle International is a division of the Shluchim Office.