4/17/2023 0 Comments Camp simcha tour de simcha livenow![]() Now I have an all-carbon bike with electronic gears.” ![]() “I had to get a new aluminum-and-carbon bike because my old one was too heavy to get up hills. ![]() Goldsmith said she had been an avid cycler as a child but hadn’t ridden in a long time. By that time, the temperature can climb pretty high. Everyone meets up half a mile from camp and arrives as a group at 3 o’clock. The women spend the previous night there, are treated to a pasta party, and hear a camper talk about Camp Simcha.Įvery 10 to 12 miles along the route, there’s a rest stop and all riders have the option of finishing the route in a support vehicle. The hilly ride starts at Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon at 6:30 a.m. That is why she recommends that potential participants test-drive the route beforehand. “Tour de Simcha is very tough because of the July heat, extreme elevations and distance to cover in a short time,” she said. She found out about it during an online search for charitable bike rides. Goldsmith, 60, has done the 40-mile Tour de Simcha route the past three summers. I rode up another hill when I got home, just because I could.” It felt absolutely exhilarating to know I could do this. “We did 10 miles altogether, with 5 of the miles uphill. Enker recently went with her Tour de Simcha group to ride at the boat basin in Englewood. Many of the women train in groups or pairs. In addition, riders form neighborhood WhatsApp groups to communicate with the coach, with one another, and with neighborhood “ambassadors” who provide encouragement. “But I took a few rides and it felt great, so I got serious about it.”Ĭhai Lifeline provides a coach to answer questions and distribute suggested training schedules. I’m 66 and I can’t be cocky about it because that’s how you get injured,” she said she has had back problems. “I waited until I was certain I would feel comfortable. She didn’t started training until the beginning of May. “Life throws us many challenges we don’t want, and this was a challenge I chose.” “I felt this would be a great thing to do, having seen this place and what it takes to run it,” she said. Enker had found her inspiration for joining Tour de Simcha. “Every accomplishment is celebrated by the whole camp, and there’s so much spirit and compassion and caring.” ![]() But these kids are really in camp, like kids who don’t have cancer, even if they’re walking around with an IV pole. Jenn has talked about some of the issues they have to deal with. They have a helipad and an ambulance and an infirmary that is functioning like a hospital. “Last summer my husband and I went to visit, and I had to lift my jaw off the floor when I saw the camp. “She has talked about Camp Simcha for years but I was never there,” Ms. Yet her old Trek bike might have stayed in mothballs if it weren’t for a visit to Camp Simcha last summer to see her daughter, Jennifer, a pediatric oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering who has volunteered at Camp Simcha for a decade. “I had a long hiatus of 17 years since I last biked, but I used to bike and wanted to start again,” Ms. We spoke to three of them from Teaneck: Joan Enker, Chaya Goldsmith, and Susan Alpert. Remarkably, nine of the registered Tour de Simcha riders are 60 and older. A nice chunk of that is for the free Camp Simcha programs for 430 kids from all over the world.”Ī 180-mile men’s ride, Bike4Chai, started a couple of years before and is timed for the middle of the boys’ session in August. “This year our unofficial goal is one-and-a-quarter million, which goes toward Chai Lifeline’s $23 million budget. “Last year we had 170 riders and raised almost a million dollars,” she added. “We cheer them on and dance with them,” said Mindy Tyner, coordinator of Tour de Simcha, describing the happy scene over the past five summers of the bikeathon’s existence. The women finish the 75-mile journey (shorter routes are available) by riding triumphantly into the camp in Glen Spey, New York, to the great delight of campers and staff. Training begins post-Passover to make sure everyone’s in shape for the ride, which is scheduled for the middle of Camp Simcha Special Girls. Get The Jewish Standard Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories There are separate sessions for boys and girls. Each woman commits to raising a minimum of $2,500 from sponsors for the benefit of Chai Lifeline, an international nonprofit organization whose many services for Jewish children with life-threatening illness include kosher summer sleepaway camps: Camp Simcha for children with cancer and blood disorders, and Camp Simcha Special for children with chronic conditions.
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