OCEANA Rides for Belize
OCEANA’s Ride for Belize begins this Thursday in Corozal where participants will ride-off on a four day ride across the Jewel. The OCEANA initiative is intended to create awareness on the work of the organization and the importance of protecting the environment. Vice President, Janelle Chanona encourages everyone to join the cause.
Janelle Chanona, Vice President, OCEANA Belize
“OCEANA Belize is keen at emphasizing at every opportunity that everything that we are doing is for Belize, about Belize, for the benefit of Belize and Belizeans and this is just another event that showcases that mission. We are going to be riding from Corozal to PG in four days—very much patterns off of the S.S.B. ride across Belize—and our tagline has been Ride with OCEANA. So we have put everything together in this perfect trifecta and having this cycling event and we will be stopping in every major municipality and just making sure that people know who we are, introducing the members of the team, introducing our campaigns and updating as per developments and this is really going to kick off a whole series of grassroots activities that will be spearheaded by our national grassroots coordinator, Misses Amelita Knowles.
Duane Moody
“Why should people be a part of it?”
Janelle Chanona
Janelle Chanona
“I think it is important for all of us to understand the responsibility we have as Belizeans. We can’t always be jumping up saying we have the second largest barrier reef in the world and we have good fish and nice conchs and all of this. We really need to begin to participate in the discussion of managing our resources and making sure that your grandchildren can also enjoy conch ceviche and it is not something that we take for granted. It is a responsibility that we have to participate in the discussion, we have to find out information; we have to draw our own conclusions. This is about participation; it is not a race put coming together as a pelathon, it moves at a particular speed, but we have support vehicles. So even if you want to do five miles, rest for twenty-five and then get back on for the next five…it’s about participating. Even if you can’t physically be on the bike, wave to the pelathon as it passes you, be there at the end to greet the finishes, be there at the start to wish us well; however you can show your support, we appreciate that. Again it is not about one group taking everything on. If all of us are supporting, many hands make light load.”
The cost of registering is twenty-five dollars per day and includes full service by Ordonez Bike Shop, basic mechanical servicing along the route, continental breakfast and lunch as well as transportation to Corozal and from Punta Gorda. If you register for all four days, you receive a free OCEANA jersey. You can also register at Ordonez Bike Shop or with OCEANA Belize.
