Ride to Renew: One Rider’s Story
This November, a group of cyclists and World Renew supporters will gather in Florida for Ride to Renew, pedaling 243 miles to fund life-changing farming programs for families around the globe.
Among this year’s riders is Jane Brouwer, a Grand Rapids native who has participated in various cross-state and even cross-country bike tours. For Jane, Ride to Renew represents a unique blend of some of her biggest passions. “Poverty relief and cycling to support it are my motivators,” Jane shares.
Jane’s passion for biking began in high school, when she participated in bike trips with her youth group. It was during these trips—which included pedaling east to west across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and riding from Knoxville to Nashville, Tennessee—that Jane developed what she calls a deep and lasting love for cycling. She later met her husband Bob on a bike trip in college, and the couple raised their two daughters to love biking as well.
Growing up in the Christian Reformed Church denomination, Jane says she was always aware of World Renew (formerly known as the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee) and our work to help end poverty. In 2008, she joined the board to organize the denomination’s cross-country Sea to Sea bike tour. Around this time, she started connecting the dots between biking and poverty relief.
Five years later, Jane joined the 2013 Sea to Sea tour as a rider, completing the entire route from Los Angeles, California, to New York City. She describes the trip as a memorable life experience, mainly because of the people she met during the journey. “The riders on the tour, support crew, and churches along the way were highlights,” Jane says, “but I most enjoyed stopping at little local coffee houses and pie shops along the way and talking to the local people we met. . . They were generally so excited to hear about the trip but, more importantly, the cause—ending poverty in people’s lives.”
In preparation for Ride to Renew, Jane has been cycling multiple times a week this summer, including some rides up to 45 miles with three friends she made through Sea to Sea. She and her husband also ride with a church group on Tuesday nights (about 25-35 miles per ride), and the two of them joined their daughter and her husband in the Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa in July.
It’s “the people, the people, the people” that excites Jane the most about Ride to Renew this year. “It is life-changing to ride with others who have some of your same passions and to talk to people along the way about the work that World Renew is doing,” Jane says.
Ride to Renew: One Rider’s Story
This November, a group of cyclists and World Renew supporters will gather in Florida for Ride to Renew, pedaling 243 miles to fund life-changing farming programs for families around the globe.
Among this year’s riders is Jane Brouwer, a Grand Rapids native who has participated in various cross-state and even cross-country bike tours. For Jane, Ride to Renew represents a unique blend of some of her biggest passions. “Poverty relief and cycling to support it are my motivators,” Jane shares.
Jane’s passion for biking began in high school, when she participated in bike trips with her youth group. It was during these trips—which included pedaling east to west across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and riding from Knoxville to Nashville, Tennessee—that Jane developed what she calls a deep and lasting love for cycling. She later met her husband Bob on a bike trip in college, and the couple raised their two daughters to love biking as well.
Growing up in the Christian Reformed Church denomination, Jane says she was always aware of World Renew (formerly known as the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee) and our work to help end poverty. In 2008, she joined the board to organize the denomination’s cross-country Sea to Sea bike tour. Around this time, she started connecting the dots between biking and poverty relief.
Five years later, Jane joined the 2013 Sea to Sea tour as a rider, completing the entire route from Los Angeles, California, to New York City. She describes the trip as a memorable life experience, mainly because of the people she met during the journey. “The riders on the tour, support crew, and churches along the way were highlights,” Jane says, “but I most enjoyed stopping at little local coffee houses and pie shops along the way and talking to the local people we met. . . They were generally so excited to hear about the trip but, more importantly, the cause—ending poverty in people’s lives.”
In preparation for Ride to Renew, Jane has been cycling multiple times a week this summer, including some rides up to 45 miles with three friends she made through Sea to Sea. She and her husband also ride with a church group on Tuesday nights (about 25-35 miles per ride), and the two of them joined their daughter and her husband in the Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa in July.
It’s “the people, the people, the people” that excites Jane the most about Ride to Renew this year. “It is life-changing to ride with others who have some of your same passions and to talk to people along the way about the work that World Renew is doing,” Jane says.
