[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

(4:00 PM, on the road with Bike4Chai)…It might have been the most tweeted about 100 miles in the United States today as nearly 300 Bike4Chai cyclists made their way from the Jersey shore to Rockland County on their way to Camp Simcha.

The 294 men (the women rode to camp earlier this summer) raised more than $2.6 million to support Chai Lifeline, the international children’s health support network, and its two summer camps for seriously ill children.

While the “experience” began last night with a gala pasta party at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park, the actual ride started this morning when honorary captain Samara cut the ribbon that held the bikers back. Wielding an oversized scissors, Samara waved to the cyclists as they set out, an ocean of riders in blue shirts and multi-colored cycles.

Almost as soon as they hit the open road, the cyclists also hit their smartphones. Tweets seemed to arrive as often as the mile markers. Like all tweets, they ranged from the profound to the silly, but hundreds if not thousands of followers smiled with each one.

The 140-character missives remained positive even after miles of punishing roads. “Seventy five miles down and still feeling great,” one follower read to his friends. “The first cyclists are done,” wrote another at 3:30.

To Yoel Margolese, the race director, and Rabbi Sruli Fried, director of Chai Lifeline’s New Jersey region, the excitement is not surprising. The race staff and volunteers worked for months to ensure that every detail of the two-day, 170-mile trek met the expectations of a group of men who had trained for months and raised funds for almost as long. Rest stops were a feast of tasty and healthy treats and drinks. And the riders had a special treat at lunch: they were serenaded by a hip-hop band.

Rabbi Simcha Scholar, Chai Lifeline’s executive vice president, marveled at the diversity of the group. “This is a cause and an event that has attracted people from every spectrum of the Jewish community and practically every neighborhood from Englewood and the Five Towns to Flatbush and Boro Park. These cyclists work so hard for our children, and trust me, our campers know it and appreciate it.”

Tomorrow, Bike4Chai will ride into Camp Simcha Special sometime after lunch. The 130 boys and 300 staff members will be ready to cheer them in. Those who have ridden with Bike4Chai before are already anticipating the raucous dancing and singing that breaks out as soon as the first cyclists through the gates and under the Camp Simcha arch. Their advice for first year riders: prepare to be amazed and overwhelmed.

“Once you get into camp, you realize that all the money you raised is doing a world of good, and that tired feeling when you get off your bike is so worth it,” one veteran said last year.

YWN PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos by Hillel Engel.

Bike4Chai was started in 2009 when just one rider, Dovid Egert of Lakewood, N.J., made the initial trip, raising $10,0000, and it has been growing ever since. In 2010, 38 riders raised $220,000; 93 riders raised $550,000 in 2011; 192 riders raised $1,887,000 in 2012, and in 2013, with fundraising still underway, 300 riders have raised more than $2 million to date.

For more information, visit www.chailifeline.org and www.campsimcha.org.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)