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In March, 2004, the Long Beach Long Riders set off on a cross country charity ride. The goal was to raise money and awareness for BroadwayCares/Equity Fights AIDS within the technical community in the entertainment business, and have some fun along the way. By any measure you choose to use, we succeeded. In fact, the trip went so well and we had so much fun, that we decided to turn what was supposed to be a one-time trip into an annual event.
It was decided that Long Beach would not be the destination point, at least not for the next several trips, so a name change was in order. After much debate and the consulting of oracles, the Long Reach Long Riders were born. We also added a new charity to ride for. The ESTA Foundation’s Behind the Scenes program offers grants to technicians who, through illness or injury find themselves in crisis.
Trips 2 & 3, in 2005 and 2006, had the group going to Rapid City, South Dakota. The Badlands, Mount Rushmore and the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial were all on the agenda as well as some terrific go-cart racing on a track in town. Between the two rides we raised over $60,000.00
In 2007 we changed the route. We started out in Philadelphia and, seven days later, found ourselves back in Philly. In between we meandered through the New England countryside stopping in places like Waterbury, VT, home of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Eastland, ME, the furthermost eastern point in the US. The group on this trip was the largest to date with 19 riders at any one time.
Ride number 5 saw the group thundering through the canyons and deserts of the Southwest. We were awed and inspired by places like Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and, of course, the Grand Canyon. We also raised more money that any previous trip, topping the till off at $70,000.00
Richmond Virginia was the starting point for ride # 6 in 2009. From there we meandered south through the North Carolina country side riding the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. We also ran roads with more colorful names like "The Snake" in Cherry Valley and "the Dragon Tail" in Deals Gap. While we meandered we raised $45,000.00 which put us over the $200,000.00 mark total donations to date. Not too shabby for a recession year, eh?
This year we start out in San Francisco. We head north up into wine country, stopping on occasion to sample the local vintages (but only after we're done riding for the day. I promise). Then we'll head west to Truckee and Lake Tahoe, south to Hollister and over to the coast. We'll head north on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway back to San Francisco.
The ride is fun, the people are great and the need is very real. If you think you might
want to ride with us, please visit the website www.lrlr.org and see what we’re about.
If you don’t want to ride you can still participate by making a donation.
Thanks
The Long Reach Long Riders
www.lrlr.org • 800.727.7471
3883 Ridge Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19132