So far, we’ve met some fascinating people on the road, one of them a self proclaimed theologian. While we didn’t debate the newest theories of man’s existence, or whether Aristotle would have agreed with Kabbalistic texts, our new-found friend did pose a challenging question.

What does a bike have to do with Judiasm?

Well, this was something we hadn’t thought about before! But after cramming our heads together we did indeed come up with some analogies to satisfy this guy’s thirst for meaning.

We’ll hold off on our answers till tomorrow to give you a chance to come up with your own. What do you think a bike has to do with Judaism?

After all the waiting, anticipating and nail-biting (mainly done by our mothers), our trip has finally begun!

We kicked off in Livingston, New Jersey, and will continue to bike around the tri-state area until July 6, when we will begin traversing the continent.

Who knew that Livingston would be the perfect place for a grand kickoff event? In honor of her upcoming bat mitzvah, eleven-year-old Olivia Lefkovits raised thousands of dollars to donate specially designed bikes to 100 Friendship Circle children. Our departure was scheduled during Olivia’s Friendship Cycle. After all the children had received their customized bikes, they cycled alongside us in a grand procession. Marching bands led the procession, balloons and streamers flew overhead, and more than 500 people came to witness the one-of-a-kind event.

A car equipped with a video camera drove alongside us for a couple of miles, then it turned back, and we were off on our own! We covered 70 miles on our first day—less than the anticipated 100 miles, due to the kickoff event, but a grand accomplishment nonetheless.

This trip will give us the challenge and experience of a lifetime, but being part of Olivia’s Friendship Cycle reminded us of the true purpose of our trip. Seeing the smiles on those children’s faces, and knowing that we are trekking cross-country to help them, gave us the inspiration to get through those 70 miles. And we know that when we are off in the middle of nowhere, and the road seems desolate and empty, with no one else around for miles, thinking of these children’s smiles will give us the motivation and willpower to move ahead with our journey.

We’d like to introduce you to the Four Dollar Campaign, an initiative being launched along with our trip. In our quest to raise money and awareness for the Friendship Circle, we are aiming to be sponsored for each mile we cycle. As you guessed, each mile is only four dollars. Every dollar we receive goes directly towards helping children with special needs. To donate, please visit our website, www.bike4friendship.com.

Calling all Facebookers and Tweetaholics! Follow us on our Facebook page, bike4friendship, and our twitter account, @bike4friendship. We look forward to updating you frequently!

When telling people about our trip, we have received varied responses: “WHAT?!” from our parents, incredulous looks of disbelief from our friends, and huge smiles from our future chiropractors. But no matter the initial response, one question was universal: “Are you crazy?” Our response? “We certainly are!”

Some of the reasons we chose to go on this trip:

First and foremost is our admiration for the Friendship Circle. When Zalmi asked us to join the trip, we thought he was joking. How could we possibly pull off a stunt of this magnitude? We’re young guys, still in school, learning almost the whole day. When would we find time to train and prepare? But when he told us about the Friendship Circle connection, that is when we signed on. We each had previous connections to children, adults, friends or relatives with special needs. We’d participated in Friendship Circle events and camps. We understood that the “special” in “special-needs children” refers to their lofty souls and holy existence. So when we heard about the cross-country biking trip to raise awareness for Friendship Circle, we decided to take on the challenge.

In addition, as rabbinical students and future rabbis, we recognized the outreach potential in the trip. We realized we would have the opportunity to meet many Jews living in remote communities with little connection to Judaism. Biking through so many small towns, and telling our story along the way, would be a great way to meet these people. We may meet people and have experiences that will change lives.

Along the way, we can dispel some myths and stigmas about rabbis. We are not all elderly, with long white beards and big bellies, constantly hovering over books. We do not all possess Eastern European accents and a lack of worldly knowledge. We hope to show people that rabbis are regular people too. If rabbis can bike across America, maybe rabbis aren’t quite so scary after all.

And so, while we may indeed be crazy to undertake this trip, there is a method to our madness.

Route the bikers will take this summer