By Erez Ezrachi
 
A delegation of six cyclists from Beit Shemesh and Mateh Yehuda, sent by Partnership 2000 of the Jewish Agency traveled in June to visit and ride in South Africa. The goal was to represent Israel at the Johannesburg celebration of Israel at 60 and encourage cyclists from South Africa to come to Israel and participate in Israeli biking events in our region and in Israel as a whole.
 
The delegation including Beit Shemesh residents Sima Menora and Zeev Moskovitz and Mateh Yehuda residents: Ilan Valani of Mesillat Tzion, Alon Cohen  of Givat Yeshayahu, Alla Barhoum, of Ein Rafa, and myself, Erez Ezrachi from Moshav Matta.

We were warmly received by the Jewish Community in Johannesburg and hosted by local families. We were taken to see local sites such as a safari park (as a visit to Africa is incomplete without seeing the local animals) and a visit to Soweto, the large black township next to Johannesburg. We also toured Johannesburg and visited the     King David School, one of the most famous schools in the city. This school has hosted many famous visitors such as Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Yitzah Rabin and others. We were invited to speak in front of hundreds of children to tell about ourselves and our cycling experiences in Israel. Alla told about how cycling activities helped him to attract the youth of Ein Raffa to community service activities and also helped them to meet Jewish kids that they never met before. Alon talked about his experiences as a border patrol soldier and Ilan talked about what it's like to be a member of the police bomb squad. Sima spoke about riding opportunities in Israel including our local Tour De Beit Shemesh and Sovev Yehuda bike competitions.  I spoke about the Alyn Wheels of Love week-long cycling event that I am the manager of. I explained to the audience that hundreds of cyclists come from all over the world to participate in this ride and last year over two million dollars were raised to help support the hospital.  Zeev related a moving story about how he almost lost his leg at the age of 11, due to an illness, but was helped to recover by the Alyn Hospital who worked with him and were able to save his leg. Now he is cycling and wants to give back to them by participating in their annual ride.
 
On another day, our delegation rode with local riders on a 40 km trail called the Braam Fontein Spruit Trail, which was beautiful.

The highlight of the trip was the 60 km "Ride for Israel at 60" which took place on Sunday, June 22. 250 South Africans from the Jewish Community participated in the ride, the first of its kind in South Africa. We felt the excitement from the community the whole time we were riding and were proud to be part of this event. Our hope is that we will soon be riding together in Israel.

The cyclists would like to thank Partnership 2000 for the amazing opportunity to represent our region and our country, as well as the Shimshon Riders Biking Club for all they have done for cycling in our region. We would also like to thank our wonderful host families in South Africa who did all that they could to make our stay in South Africa meaningful and enjoyable.