Chai Blog: Esther Malka Shaffer

One more pedal stroke, one more mile to go. The cars honk as they pass by. You watch them as they pass you by. As you follow with your eyes and wish you could move along at their pace. The sweat drips and that voice in your head says you cannot push your quad one more centimetre. It just won’t go. That last half mile is the most daunting as it signals the last mountain to climb before you reach…

The cheering that can be heard from the last half mile mark as you begin to envision why you are doing what you are doing at this very moment.  Why you have woken up at the crack of dawn over the past two months, why your body feels like you’ve run it through the wringer. Why your muscles cramp and beg for you to just let them be. Why you have asked your family to support you as you disappear for hours at a time to train just as winter turns to spring…

For the most amazing ride of all time.  To the world’s greatest finish line.

To greet the children whose lives have impacted yours.

To follow those cheers up that last hill and ride into the magical place called Camp Simcha.

This, my friends, is TOUR DE SIMCHA. The ride of my life.  The ride of the lives of 217 women who rode 75 miles this summer on July 19^th to prove to these kids that we will cheer them on as they fight the fight of their lives.

That the training and tears and sweat and cramps mean nothing in the larger scheme of things.  That we will ride into camp and dance and sing as we lift up these warriors who prove to the world and to 217 riders that they are the true heroes.  The medals they hang around our necks belong to them.  The finish line is theirs.

And as we clip in on July 3, 2018 to climb another 5000 feet in 75 miles to Camp Simcha we will carry those warriors in our minds and in our hearts to greet them once again at the world’s greatest finish line.

You too can join me on July 3^rd, 2018 on my 6^th Tour. Together. As rider and warrior. To prove to them that they can.

Tour de Simcha