Tour de Timor

Sun. June 7 1:00 pm Law Park (between Monona Terrace and Machinery Row Bicycles)  The 16th annual “Tour de Timor” Sister-City Bike Ride!  Ride around Lake Monona to raise funds for community projects in Ainaro, Madison’s official sister-city in the Southeast Asian island nation of East Timor. For a $25 registration fee, Tour de Timor participants will receive an organic, union-made T-shirt.  Participants are also encouraged to collect pledges.  The first Tour de Timor ride was held in August 1999, as the people of East Timor prepared to vote in a United Nations-organized referendum on their future.  They overwhelmingly voted for independence, bringing an end to a brutal, quarter-century-long Indonesian military occupation.  As the Indonesian military left East Timor, they destroyed an estimated 70 percent of its infrastructure.  The Madison chapter of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN-Madison) established a sister-city relationship with Ainaro, to help the rural community rebuild.  Previous Tour de Timor bike rides have raised thousands of dollars for maternal and child health programs in Ainaro, for the Madison visit of two Ainaro community leaders and sustainable agriculture groups.

Info?  www.aideasttimor.org