Zwift to Host Charity Rides Every Hour for #WorldBicycleDay
Zwift will host a series of charity rides on June 2 and 3 to benefit World Bicycle Relief, a non-profit providing bikes to rural communities in developing nations.
Rides will kick off every hour on Sunday and Monday. Participants will have to finish within 60 minutes, before the virtual “sunset.”
The series also celebrates World Bicycle Day, a year-old United Nations holiday falling on June 3.
Summer is almost here, but this week you can dust off that indoor trainer for a good cause: Zwift, the online cycling gaming platform, will host a series of innovative charity rides on June 2 and 3 in honor of World Bicycle Day.
Titled Racing the Sun, these events are free to join, but Zwift is encouraging riders to donate to its partner organization, World Bicycle Relief (WBR). A global non-profit, WBR distributes bicycles in developing nations with the goal of improving mobility, safety, and quality of life in rural communities.
Participating Zwifters have the option of riding three different routes, each an hour long, and all with the same goal: finish before the virtual sun sets. This is meant to invoke certain challenges of travel for rural Africans: Having to cover long distances on foot, many in the countryside must squeeze their commutes, shopping, and other trips into the daylight hours, or else risk various dangers walking on unlit roads at night.
That’s why the bikes provided by WBR can be so life-changing. Each donated bike costs $147, and Zwift is pledging to match the first $25,000 raised.
“WBR’s mission is to help mobilize communities in the developing world by supplying them with rugged bikes for transport. This is something that resonates especially well amongst our community,” Zwift CEO Eric Min said in a statement. “I hope to see many out there with me supporting this great cause.”
Racing the Sun kicked off on Sunday at midnight (Pacific time), and rides will occur every hour through 2 a.m. on Monday. This also coincides with World Bicycle Day, a new holiday falling on June 3. Conceived by Polish sociology professor Leszek Sibiliski and first recognized by the United Nations last year, the idea is to celebrate the bicycle as a simple, affordable, and environmentally friendly contribution to the world.
Sign up for a Racing the Sun event, and your Zwift avatar will ride the same kind of bicycle WBR distributes in Africa: a “Buffalo bike” built to handle rough rural terrain. You’ll be in good company, too, as ride leaders include Min, six-time Ironman winner Jordan Rapp, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong.
Finish the ride, and you’ll unlock a special Zwift kit (that you can also purchase in real life). Plus, you’ll enter into a drawing to win a Saris H2 trainer, a Saris M2 trainer, or a SRAM Force AXS groupset.
If you don’t Zwift, real-life organized rides and other charity events will take place all around the globe on World Bicycle Day. Check with your local clubs to see if anything is happening near you.
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