2025 Ride - October 6-10
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Ride Starts on Monday at 9:00!
We're excited to start our ride, and are motivated by the people of Haiti, who never give up, by the Outreach to Haiti staff and volunteers, and by all the people who have donated to the bike ride and who have expressed their support! Our friends and family have been very generous with donations, and this, along with the great work Outreach to Haiti does to help people help themselves, motivates us to do this ride.
Each day, energy and time permitting, we will post a brief description of the day's ride here.
Also, you can “like” Outreach to Haiti on Facebook to get updates, photos, and live videos.
October 6 - Day 1
First day of the 11th Ride for Haiti! We’re starting with three riders today: Steve Cuddy, Ron Paine, and Tom Campbell, and Jim Hubert will ride with us on Tuesday. Dorothy Paine will provide support for Monday and Tuesday. Thank you, Dorothy – we can’t do this without you! This year, we are riding new routes four out of the five days. So, we will be riding on roads and bike trails we haven’t seen before. We’ll see how that goes!
We met at St. Bernard’s Church in Vernon, CT. We were greeted by Fr. Rick Ricard and our friends Dennis Petruzzi and John Bouley (the president of Outreach to Haiti’s Board). St. Bernard is yoked with St. Matthew in Tolland, and St. Matthew is long-time supporter of Outreach. We received a blessing from Fr. Rick and started the ride right on time -- 9 am.
Today's weather was very nice – high in the 80’s. Good weather for short sleeves, although a little cool early on. Our route took us north and west, heading over the Connecticut river, past Bradley Airport, and through tobacco field farms in northern CT. Nice roads, with some traffic, but good sight lines. The cars played nice today!
On the way we stopped at Dan Sullivan Park in Suffield CT (we were thinking about our friend Dan O’Sullivan, who we will see later in the week!). It was just starting to get a bit warm, so the break was welcome.
After the break, we headed west towards the bike trail. We took the Farmington Valley Heritage Trail north, which turns into the Southwick Bike Trail once we hit Massachusetts, and that turns into the Columbia Greenway Trail. The trails are nice this time of year. Lots of shade and there is a bit of color on the leaves. But we had to watch out for the squirrels who love to run out in front of the bikes! The trails took us to Westfield, MA, and a newer section took us over the Westfield River.
After leaving the trails, we went back to riding on roads. This time, there was a little more traffic, and what felt like higher speeds (the cars, not us). But the driver looked out for us, and we felt comfortable with the ride.
We took another break at Hampton Ponds State Park – a very nice spot – at about mile 53 (thanks Dorothy!) and then headed straight north to more trails. The last 11 miles were on the Manhan Trail, the New Haven and Northhampton Canal Greenway, and the Norwottuck Trail into Amherst, MA. These trails were all connected and were in great shape! It’s always nice turning onto a bike trail after spending time riding on the road. It feels a little more relaxing and quieter. I have to say that all the bike trails I’ve had the privilege of riding on are local treasures. I hope we get to see more expansion of current trails and new trails being built.
The trail took us to the hotel a little after 3 - safe and happy. The total for the day was 70.3 miles.
Tomorrow we are riding back to CT - to Glastonbury. Jim will be joining us for the last 28 miles. Stay tuned!
Description of Ride
The 11th Annual Bike Ride for Haiti begins Monday, October 6. The Outreach to Haiti team of riders are once again riding 337 miles, the length of one tip of Haiti to another, over 5 days. We'll be riding in Connecticut and Massachusetts and many of our rides will be routes we are doing for the first time. During the ride, we will visit some of the parishes and schools in Connecticut that are twinned through Outreach to Haiti with parishes, orphanages, and schools in Haiti. This includes a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Cathedral School in Norwich.
The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness and funds to support our mission in Haiti. Outreach to Haiti has been in Haiti for almost 40 years, serving the poor in the Christ Roi (Christ the King) community of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas with a healthcare clinic, food and nutrition programs, education programs, developing and maintaining twinning relationships, cultural immersion trips, and the FAK program, which empowers women to start their own businesses. Our motto is Helping Haitians Help Haitians, and Outreach to Haiti is truly saving and changing lives in Haiti. More information about Outreach to Haiti can be found on other pages of this website.
The people we serve in Haiti ARE IN GREAT NEED OF OUR SUPPORT. Due to the political and social unrest, the demand for our services and the challenges associated with delivering those services have increased significantly. Despite these challenges, and with your help, our staff in Haiti heroically continues to maintain services to their community.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe and successful ride (and an occasional continual tail wind would be nice!)
These are the daily rides (subject to change):
Day 1 - Rockville, CT to Amherst, MA - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33543229
Day 2 - Amherst to Glastonbury, CT - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51830640
Day 3 - Colechester, CT to Westbrook, CT - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49136454
Day 4 - Westbrook to Wallingford, CT - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49661191
Day 5 - Wallingford, CT to Farmington, CT - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50253853
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