Steves Email on Tour
Email from Steve on return from the ride, 20 September 2006, to his fellow cyclists
Dear all,
Thank you for your continued interest in my “epic adventure” with the Peace Cycle. As I expected, I grew up a lot (I am 48), and have been appalled by some of the things I have seen, not starvation or extreme sickness, as we are used to seeing on the TV, but just the insidious nature of the subjugation of one nation by another. I am struggling to deal with all my thoughts at present, but there is a lot to say, and I want to say it. The experience has been simply fantastic. I have attached a letter received just tonight from Marcia Cooke, an American working at the wonderful Najah university in Nablus, an educational institution the equal of our own SHU here in Sheffield, just to show the stark reality of life in the West Bank at present.
Her story reflects what we heard from the mayor of Nablus, and from several of the other towns we visited. I include it to show how participating in The Peace Cycle has opened my eyes and is changing my life. I have included a couple of the 250 pictures I took as well.
Please keep in touch, there is a fantastic story here, I need your help to tell it in a way that the people of Sheffield can understand.
Steve
First picture , is at the Jamalia checkpoint. Mohammed, the Palestinian Peace Cyclist, is unable to join the Group. We got into the Independent with this story.
The second photo shows me atop Mount Precipice near Nazareth, looking over the beautiful Yizrael valley.
The third photo depicts some artwork on the disgusting security wall that surrounds the town of Qalquilyia. My wonderful bike is against the wall. I donated this to a suitable project, as I had hoped.
