Big Ride for Palestine

media release: Sun. July 19, 10 am-2 pm, leaving from Olin Park in Madison.

Madison area cyclists of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in the 2026 Middle East Children’s Alliance Big Ride for Palestine, July 19, presented by Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.  

This ride is for everyone! Regardless of your age, your bike, and your level of biking energy, this ride is for you! 

Riders will gather at 10 am for a brief sendoff at the east end of the park, then ride along the Wingra Creek bike path to Midland Park, a distance of about 2.5 miles. There riders will have an option of taking a break, or continuing on for a 3.5 mile loop around the zoo. Riders will then return to Olin Park together. 

Bike decorations, watermelon and ice water will be available at Olin Park, and participants are encouraged to wear kuffiyas and decorate bikes in solidarity with the children of Palestine and Lebanon.

Registration is now open and Madison area riders can visit Madison’s team page here (https://tinyurl.com/MadisonRide4Palestine) to view a ride map and and sign up to ride with the Madison team.

Participants have until July 15 to register and receive a Ride for Palestine shirt but are encouraged to register now and build support for their personal ride among friends, family and colleagues to make this year’s event a success in this time of desperate need in Gaza.

The July 19 event at Olin Park is free and open to the public and anyone is welcome to join the in the ride or cheer on Madison’s team. 

MECA works to protect the lives, rights, and well-being of children in Palestine and refugee camps in Lebanon. After over 76 years of ethnic cleansing, displacement, and attacks on their lives and livelihoods, Palestinians remain steadfast on their land and fiercely committed to the cause of freedom and liberation. This Ride for Return is an act of solidarity with Palestinian communities as they struggle to protect their children’s lives and their culture from erasure.     

As Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon and blockade of Gaza continue, our support is needed more urgently than ever. All funds raised by the Ride will go to MECA’s relief work in Palestine and Lebanon. 

Learn more about MECA at https://www.mecaforpeace.org.

Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is a local volunteer organization committed to standing with the people of Gaza and Palestine as they struggle to remain in their homeland despite Israel’s decades long settler-colonial occupation of the West Bank and brutal blockade and Genocide in Gaza.  

Madison’s ride is presented by Madison-Rafah sister City Project.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/920407394110295/