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Richmond educators and people in Richmond School District 38 will be participating in the eleventh annual Richmond School District Fun Scholarship Bike Ride.

Photo courtesy Jim Allison

Richmond educators host Scholarship Bike Ride

By The Canadian Press

Published 11:52 PDT, Fri May 12, 2023

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Local educators and people in the Richmond School District 38 (SD38) will be participating in the eleventh annual Richmond School District Fun Scholarship Bike Ride. The group first started out as a group of bikers who wanted to build community through the activity they enjoyed and raise funds for graduating students as well. The event has raised over $40,000 in scholarships for Richmond students.

“The purpose of the ride is to build community through a healthy activity and raise funds for scholarships for graduating students at all ten of Richmond’s public secondary schools” said Jim Allison, former Richmond SD38 principal.

The funds raised through donations will go toward scholarships to each of the secondary schools whose scholarship committee will determine the recipient.

For some, the bike ride is for participants to remember two Richmond educators and avid cyclists, Lorne Bodin and Targett Ng. Bodin and Ng, were two well-known educators who were avid cyclists that encouraged participating in the sport.

“Lorne was a well-known local road racer, as well as a volunteer for the Richmond Islanders Softball Association, he had been named principal at McNair Secondary School when he succumbed to stomach cancer in 2010.

Targett, was the vice principal at McKay Elementary school and a diehard mountain bike rider who was killed when biking to work in June 2008,” said Allison.

The bike ride will take place on Saturday, May 27 at Burnett Secondary School. It is open to anyone over the age of 18 and is a leisurely ride around west Richmond. The ride will head west along Railway Road, then east onto River Road before looping back to Burnett Secondary.

Halfway through the ride, a refreshment stop will be posted at the half-way point for riders to catch their breath and rehydrate if necessary. Once the ride has finished, participants will be able to enjoy a post-ride barbeque lunch courtesy of Jason Davidson at M&M Food Market in Richmond.

Like all events in the last couple years, the event was forced to be cancelled because of the pandemic but that did not stop the avid bike riders from participating in remote events throughout the peak years of the pandemic.

“In 2020 and 2021, we organized the event remotely. People could donate and ride on their own, or within their bubble and send in photos or post on social media. We returned to a hybrid option of in-person and hybrid options for 2023, as we wanted to respect everyone’s comfort level,” said Allison.

Those interested in participating can do so in person or virtually. For participants who will be participating virtually, and want to post on social media, they are encouraged to add the hashtag #SD38Ride2023 to their post.

For more information about the event or to register, visit survey.sd38.bc.ca/Ride2023#.