The Sound of Community Being Built

“Wanted to invite anyone in the LA area for another training ride next week. We will be starting from M Street and headed up PCH for 25 miles and back. Hope you can come join us.” (Lincoln Fuge, chef, Lettuce Entertain You)

“Anyone down for a Wednesday or Thursday PCH ride 60 -70 miles   Around 9 am????” (Ryan Osasky, Chef, Church Key)

“Bad news – I got on my bike and it wrecked my back. That being said, is there a different way I can support the race? Are people cooking along the way?” (Amanda Haas, Williams-Sonoma Director of Culinary)

“For those of you that are interested: All levels welcome: I have 5 riders already confirmed. Sunday February 28, 2016   Meet time 6:30am  Roll time 7am”  (Chef Travis Flood)

“6:30am?!  Don't any of you work in a kitchen until 1 am Saturday night?!”(Chef Ryan Osasky)

 

Dear Share Our Strength and Community Wealth Partners colleagues:

These are just a fraction of the emails being exchanged among dozens of chef riders for Chefs Cycle 2016. These are the sounds of a community being built. And this is how sharing strength creates community.

Last June, 25 riders signed up to for the California ride, in addition to the 25 who rode from New York to DC on the east coast.  As of this morning 106 have signed up to ride Chefs Cycle 2016. It is only the beginning of March. We will achieve the goal of 200 riders and $1 million in new revenue for the No Kid Hungry campaign. Not just because we are recruiting riders, but because they are recruiting each other.

Chefs Cycle has gone viral in the true sense of the word.  It is coursing through the bloodstream of the culinary community and tapping into that deep desire to make a difference, to leverage one’s own strengths, gifts, talents, and passions to serve others. 

Dan Pallotta, inventor of the AIDS rides always asserts that people want to be challenged to do something not easy but hard.  In a world of one-clicks, “likes”, “shares”, etc. , Chefs Cycle is a heavier lift. And that’s its appeal.

The ride route also mirrors our roadmap to ending childhood hunger. Chefs Cycle is not something you can do on your own. At least not easily. You have to embrace being part of something larger than yourself. You have to depend on others to train and find your way and they have to be able to depend on you. You have to stick with a plan but also make constant course corrections to it.

Riding 300 miles in 3 days, and the months of training that precede it, may sound like a test of endurance.  But listen closely and what you will hear are the sounds from the construction site where community is being built.

For more information and to support our ride:  http://p2p.charityengine.net/supportachef/