Ride for Zimele - 5 Days, 1 Purpose
What started with six cyclists, five days, and more than 450 miles ended with something even bigger than we imagined.
The 2026 Ride for Zimele raised $40,435—surpassing our $30,000 goal by more than $10,000.
And it happened because of an incredible community of people who believed in the purpose behind every mile.
From August 2–6, Andy, Eugene, Dennis, Stephen, Kevin, and Peter rode from Nyack, New York, to Montreal, Canada, pushing through long days in the saddle, changing weather, tired legs, hills, and plenty of miles. The Ride for Zimele has always demanded commitment and endurance from our cyclists, and this year was no different.
From August 2–6, Andy, Eugene, Dennis, Stephen, Kevin, and Peter rode from Nyack, New York, to Montreal, Canada, pushing through long days in the saddle, changing weather, tired legs, hills, and plenty of miles. The Ride for Zimele has always demanded commitment and endurance from our cyclists, and this year was no different.
But the ride was never just about the cyclists.
Nearly 200 donors gave generously to help us reach—and ultimately surpass—our goal. Your generosity provided the extra encouragement and fuel that our bikers needed to keep going on the hardest days. Our meal sponsors and supporters along the route reminded us that while the riders may have been the ones on the bikes, this was truly a community effort.
And that community extends all the way to South Africa.
Where the Miles Take Us
The $40,435 raised through this year's ride will help Zimele Wethu deepen its work in rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal—strengthening the self-help groups that women have built together and helping them take the next step toward greater collective power.
For years, Zimele women have been building strong local savings and self-help groups where they save together, access loans, learn new skills, support one another, and take on leadership roles. Zimele Wethu is working to strengthen these existing groups and build their capacity to reach federation levels.
At the federation level, women and their groups can mobilize on a much larger scale. Federations provide collective financial strength, larger-scale resource mobilization, governance training, and opportunities for policy advocacy. They create a pathway for women who have built strength at the grassroots level to come together, have a greater voice, and influence the systems and decisions that affect their communities.
This is what the Ride for Zimele makes possible.
The money raised isn't simply funding a program for women. It is helping strengthen the networks, leadership, and collective power women are already building for themselves.
Since the Ride for Zimele began in 2018, hundreds of supporters and dedicated cyclists have helped raise more than $253,000 for Zimele's work. We are deeply grateful.
To our six riders: thank you for your commitment, endurance, and willingness to give five+ days of your time, resources and energy to something much bigger than yourselves.
To our donors, meal sponsors, friends, families and kind strangers who cheered on our riders along the way: thank you for believing in the mission and blowing us away by your generosity!
