Attention all cyclist:

With the purchase of a Dream Ride Jersey, you will be supporting human rights, the Dream Ride, CARE, and ultimately the education of women and girls through the Power Within Program. The fact that the Dream Ride Jersey design is stunning and fits great is the icing on the cake!

Choose from the following sizes, make a donation online or by check, send us an email with your size request and shipping address, and we will send you your new jersey.  Suggested donation is $75 per Jersey.

Women’s sizes: Made by Voler in California, Short sleeve, Race cut, Raglan sleeves, and Hidden Zipper.

Medium – 3

Large – 2

Men’s sizes: Made by Voler in California, Short sleeve, Club cut, Raglan sleeves, and Hidden Zipper.

Medium – 4

Large – 4

XLarge – 1

Much thanks goes out to our riders, donors, volunteers, CARE, and our organizing team for making this year’s ride a success! We will be posting pictures and updates on fundraising shortly…

This year we’re trying a new idea: for the one day ride, the entry fee is $0 – yes, you read that right – and you can ride by raising whatever you can! We know that you and your friends may be in a difficult economic position, but we want to include as many people as possible.  Panera is trying the same idea in a few of their stores and are finding that it works surprisingly well! Sign up today for a fun ride!

We’ve finalized our route for the 2010 ride:

Day 1 – Larkspur to Santa Rosa
Day 2 – Santa Rosa to Wine Country and back to Santa Rosa
Day 3 – Santa Rosa to San Francisco, Across the Golden Gate

Err… Folks, please disregard the elevation profile of day 3.  It is inaccurate and does not reflect the route we have planned.  We are in the process of fixing it.  Thanks for your patience.

Today, Jesse and I spent a good chunk of a beautiful afternoon scouting out a ride route for the first day. Paying close attention to roads that have interest (read: not dead straight and flat), a bike lane or low traffic, we’ve set upon a route from Larkspur to Santa Rosa for the first day. Riders, you’re in for a treat: a ferry ride and some very scenic cycling through the beautiful valleys of Marin County!  Keep your eyes pealed for the route when it’s posted.

PS: how do you pronounce “route”?  Is it ‘root’ or ‘raute’?

Its May 8th and the weather has been absolutely amazing these past few weeks. One of the things I love most about being outside on the bike is feeling the temperature change as we move from one season to the next. Right now, there is such a difference between the cool shadows cast by the trees and the warm sun rays when exposed.
Also, being Bike to Work month (or what I hope people interpret it as: Bike to Do Anything and Everything month), has me very excited seeing so many people out using the bicycle boulevard in front of my house. Some wearing spandex, some with panniers filled with groceries, some unfortunately not wearing a helmet (or incredulously, wearing it almost vertically on the back of their head….or yes, backwards!!!). The way I see it, whatever gets people out and on their bike (though hopefully in a safe manner). And certainly the weather can only inspire more to join them!!
So on that note, enjoy the beautiful day…I’m going for a ride!

I hope those of you who also saw the film, Half the Sky in San Francisco tonight, were as inspired as I was. Education, both as a tool to empower those most in need around the world, as well as to empower us to stand up and take a stand to spread the message to those around us. I felt the movie was an excellent balance of firsthand accounts and also activating dialogue. I am very excited about the ride in July. And although we still have much work to do before now and then, I’m excited for the journey ahead. The film has given me fuel for the work yet to do. Like the film said loud and clear…one by one, little by little, we will get there.
In the words of Ben Harper: “What good is a man who won’t take a stand, What good is a cynic with no better plan. I believe in a better way”.
I do too…

The following theaters in and around the SF Bay area will be showing Nicholas Kristof’s Half the Sky Live Film on Thursday March 4th @ 7:30PM.  Check it out!  In fact, so many theaters are showing the film, you really don’t have an excuse NOT to see this film. Tickets are available by clicking here.

Daly City 20 1901 Junipero Serra Blvd Daly City
Mountain View Cinemas 16 1500 N Shoreline Blvd Mountain View
Century 20 Downtown Redwood City 825 Middlefield Rd Redwood City
Century Theatres at Tanforan 1188 El Camino Real San Bruno
Century 9 San Francisco Centre 835 Market St San Francisco
San Francisco Cinearts Empire 3 85 W Portal Ave San Francisco
San Mateo Downtown 320 2Nd Ave San Mateo
Blackhawk 4175 Blackhawk Plaza Cir Danville
Pleasant Hill Downtown 16 125 Crescent Dr Pleasant Hill
Century 22695 Foothill Blvd Hayward
Napa 8 825 Pearl St Napa
Hacienda Crossings 20 plus IMAX 5000 Dublin Blvd Dublin
Union City Union Landing 25 32100 Union Lndg Union City
Walnut Creek 14 1201 Locust St Walnut Creek
Bay Street 16 with IMAX 5614 Bay St Ste 220 Emeryville
San Rafael Regency 6 280 Smith Ranch Rd San Rafael
Mill Valley Cinearts Sequoia 2 25 Throckmorton Ave Mill Valley
Cupertino 16 with IMAX 10123 N Wolfe Rd Cupertino
Milpitas Great Mall 20 1010 Great Mall Dr Milpitas
Eastridge Mall 15 with IMAX 2190 Eastridge Loop San Jose
San Jose Oakridge 20 925 Blossom Hill Rd San Jose
Cinearts Santana Row 6 3088 Olsen Dr San Jose
Stockton City Centre Stadium 16 with IMAX 222 N El Dorado St Stockton

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2010 Dream Ride will take place on July 30- August 1 in and around California’s wine country (north of San Francisco). There will be a 3 day ride and a 1 day ride, approximately 60 miles per day. So mark you calendars, sign up for the ride, start your training and join us for an unforgettable experience!

Hello all, I found this article in the NY times, which is right up the alley of CARE’s Power Within program.  I’ve copied some of the original text below and then put a link to the rest of the article.  Enjoy.

The Women’s Crusade

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape.

Yet if the injustices that women in poor countries suffer are of paramount importance, in an economic and geopolitical sense the opportunity they represent is even greater. “Women hold up half the sky,” in the words of a Chinese saying, yet that’s mostly an aspiration: in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos. There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. That’s why foreign aid is increasingly directed to women. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.

Read the rest of the article here.

– Steve