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🚴‍♂️ Bike4Chai 2025: The Journey Begins 🚴‍♂️

📅 January 7, 2025 - Tuesday

Wow. I’m back! 2024 was an incredible ride—literally and figuratively. It was a year of triumphs, challenges, and closure—a perfect sequel to the groundbreaking chapter I started in 2023.

In 2023, I took a leap of faith. After years of biking long distances and with encouragement from friends, I joined Bike4Chai. That year, I didn’t just participate—I transformed the experience. I biked hundreds of miles on a hybrid, wrote a memoir, and presented my story to a community that welcomed me with open arms.

In 2024, I returned not just to ride but to celebrate Bike4Chai’s 15th anniversary and see the ripple effects of my journey. And what a ripple it was!

🌟 The Power of Connection 🌟

The positivity was overwhelming. People treated me like a legend, someone who inspired others to push their limits and join this incredible cause. Every kind word, every handshake, and every nod of respect gave me a confidence boost I didn’t know I needed.

Bike4Chai became more than a cycling event—it became therapy. It became my platform to inspire, to share my story, and to connect with others. I realized that my words, my actions, and my willingness to push through challenges mattered.

In 2024, new friends joined, riders looked up to me, and my story sparked something in them. They saw what was possible. They felt moved. They took action.

🌊 A New Wave: Cleveland Joins the Ride 🌊

One of the most meaningful moments of 2024 came during my training rides, when Yonasan Tesser, the Bike4Chai relations manager, approached me with a bold idea:

“Let’s bring Cleveland into Bike4Chai 2025.”

It was an exciting challenge—to introduce Bike4Chai to my hometown and create Team Cleveland Riders. But it was also daunting. Fundraising is never easy. Rallying an entirely new community to get on bikes and join this movement felt monumental.

How do I convince Clevelanders to take up the cause? To wake up early, train hard, and push their limits for something greater than themselves?

💡 Finding Motivation 💡

The answer came when I shifted my perspective.

Sure, people might see me as someone asking for donations. But I want them to see so much more than that.

I want them to see someone rewriting the rules. Someone who isn’t afraid to take on the impossible, who dares to make history. Someone who inspires change and invites others to be part of it.

I want them to look back years from now and say:
“I knew Akiva Freund when he was just starting out. I was one of the first to support him. And now, look at everything he’s accomplished.”

This mindset fuels me. It gives me the confidence I need to fundraise, recruit, and rally Cleveland to make this dream a reality.

🚴‍♂️ Cleveland, Let’s Ride! 🚴‍♂️

Let’s show Bike4Chai what Cleveland has to offer. Let’s wake up the shores of Lake Erie and bring this city into the movement.

Let’s cheer so loud at the World’s Greatest Finish Line that the whole world takes notice. A roar so powerful it echoes for miles, inspiring people everywhere to raise their fists and shout:
“FOR CHAI LIFELINE!!!”

🙌 2024: A Year of Divine Providence 🙌

Last year was filled with countless moments of hashgacha protis—divine providence. Every part of my story fit together perfectly, as if orchestrated by a Higher Power.

Rabbi Sruli Fried captured it best at last year’s Brooklyn Riders BBQ:
“Because we’re doing G-d’s work. It’s emes. And if we’re doing G-d’s work, somehow or another, you’ll get it done.”

His words stuck with me. They remind me that every pedal stroke, every dollar raised, and every connection made is part of something much greater than myself.

🎉 Bring It On, 2025! 🎉

So here we are—2025. A new year. A new journey. A new chapter in the Bike4Chai story.

Cleveland, I’m ready. Bike4Chai, let’s inspire. And Hashem, I know You’re watching—because we’ve got work to do.

2025, bring what you got.