CYCLISTS will brace for a 550-kilometer challenge to raise funds and increase awareness in the Ride to End Polio Cebu 2019 on Nov. 22 to 24, covering municipalities of Cebu.

The goal of the three-day ride conducted by the Rotary Club of Cebu is to raise P2 million. The funds will be used to eradicate polio not just in the Philippines but also in the world.

The riders will also conduct a mass vaccination to children five years old and below in the towns of Oslob, Tabuelan, Tabogon, Balamban and Toledo for the duration of the ride.

To generate funds, a person can make a pledge through a direct lump sum donation, lump sum pledge and pledge per kilometer.

“We will limit the ride to 40 cyclists. Forty represents 40 years of Rotary Club’s efforts to end polio,” Rotary Club’s past president Bernard Vonn Sia said at Thursday’s press conference at the Uno Cafe.

The first day will be a 200-kilometer course from Cebu City to Moalboal via Samboan. The next day, the riders will traverse another 200K route from Moalboal going to Daanbantayan. The final day will cover 150K from Daanbantayan to Cebu City via Tabogon.

The event is the first-ever perimeter ride in the Philippines participated by Rotarians and non-Rotarians in the hope of increasing the vaccination rate to 95 percent by raising funds to support Rotary International’s End Polio Program. RSC