Cyclists worldwide plan rides to mark 100 days since hostages taken captive
Events to take place in Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
On Sunday, January 14, 100 days since hundreds of people were abducted from Israel on October 7 by Hamas terrorists, tens of thousands of cyclists will take to roads around the globe in a solidarity ride.
Many of the planned rides revolve around the number 136 — for the remaining 132 hostages taken captive on October 7 and are still in Gaza, as well as the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin and two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
The 100-day cycling event, spearheaded by the Israeli professional cycling team Israel – Premier Tech, together with The Hostage and Missing Families Forum and the Israeli Cycling Federation, hopes to encourage tens of thousands of cyclists to take part in rides being organized in Barcelona, Paris, London, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
In Israel, the central cycling event will take place at Tel Aviv’s Velodrome bicycle racing track, where 136 family members of the hostages and cyclists from the Israeli cycling community, representing each of the hostages, will encircle the cycling stadium.
Cyclists everywhere are also being encouraged to go for a ride on January 14 with yellow ribbons tied to their bikes, and to upload photos of their rides to social media with the hashtag #RideToBringThemHomeNow.
One of the hostage family members is Shai Benjamin, whose father, 52-year-old cyclist Ron Benjamin, was taken hostage while heading to an early Saturday morning bike ride.
Benjamin was last heard from at 7:30 a.m. on October 7, when he left a voice message for one of his two daughters, telling her he was heading home to Rehovot from a planned group bike ride near Kibbutz Be’eri, given the cascade of rockets that started the massive attack.
“Since October 7, I have not had a day or night, just a continuous nightmare,” said Shai Benjamin. “Everything haunts me. Thoughts of what they are doing to him there. How he is managing to survive. How can I sleep when I have no idea if my father can sleep at all? When I want to eat, I am tormented by the question of whether he is starving there. And why do I deserve to cover myself with a blanket when he might be cold?”
The solidarity riders include four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome who competes for Israel – Premier Tech. Froome called on the entire global cycling community to tie a yellow ribbon to their bikes on the 100th day of the abductions and to dedicate their ride to calling for the release of the hostages.
“As a human being, as a father myself, I cannot stand idly by,” said Froome, adding that he was moved to action by the story of the Kalderon family, whose father Ofer and 12-year-old son Erez, both cyclists, were abducted on October 7. Erez was released after 51 days in captivity, but his father, Ofer, is still being held by Hamas.
There is also 28-year-old Czech rider Lukas Klement, who plans to ride for 24 hours straight this weekend, creating a course in the shape of a Star of David and the number 100.
