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Serk Cycling Beijing

Distance

Ride 400km in 7 days
Run 100km in 7 days

location

Anywhere you are this CNY

Time

Friday 24th -
Thursday 30th
Jan 2020

The Firecracker 400 is back for the 5th year!

The idea is simple - Serk challenge you to ride 400km or run 100km over the 7 days of Chinese New Year.

This year we'd like to use the F400 to raise some funds for Australian wildlife that have been decimated in the Australian bushfires in the past months. You may have seen the below image of a thirsty koala climbing aboard a bike following bushfires in Adelaide. The bike belonged to Anna Heusler and after she posted the pic on her instagram account it went viral across the world. To make the most of her instagram fame she started a fundraising campaign for Adelaide Koala Rescue and started working with the organisation as a volunteer. She has now raised over A$48,000 (RMB 228,000) for the centre to aid in their ongoing work treating Koala's injured in the Adelaide bushfires.

It's been estimated that 1.25 billion native animals have perished in the Australian bushfires, including koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, echidnas and more. Instead of raising funds for some of the larger organisations we wanted donate to a more grassroots organisation and also one which had a (loose) connection to cycling. It was also important to find something we could follow up with in the months to come. Liman and Shannon will be visiting Adelaide for the Tour Down Under during Chinese New Year so we reached out to Anna to see if we could help raise some extra funds for the Adelaide Koala Rescue through the Firecracker 400. We will be meeting up with Anna soon and look forward to sending some personal messages from her to the group.

We ask everyone that rides the Firecracker 400 to pledge an RMB donation per kilometre you ride. The amount per kilometre is entirely up to you - 0.25 RMB per kilometre = 100 RMB for example. We also encourage you to ask your friends to sponsor each kilometre you ride.

At the end of the Firecracker 400 we will tally up your km's and calculate your pledge and ask you to send us money via WeChat. We will put all of the Firecracker 400 funds together and make one donation to the Adelaide Koala Rescue team.

Each finisher of the Firecracker 400 challenge will receive access to a limited edition Firecracker 400 stem cap from Serk (see pic below).

Owen is also organising a running version through the Laowai Trail Runner - run 100km to achieve the Firecracker 100.

So get a firecracker up your a^%e and start planning your rides !

Rules

  • You must register on the sign up form below including your donation pledge
  • Warm Climates
    If the average temp of your location is 16 degrees or over only 80% of kilometres count towards your total. So you'll need to ride 500km or run 125km to complete the Firecracker.
  • Indoor rides only count if AQI is over 150
  • For your ride to qualify you must post a screen grab of the ride (from strava or your computer) with distance included to your WeChat moments. You also need to post an image from the ride and the Firecracker 400 logo below along with the hashtag #Serkfirecracker400 (use #serkfirecracker100 if you are running). When you post the moment please mention @shannon山龙SerkCycling so we register your kilometres in our database. No moments post no km. We want the event to grow over the years so this process helps to promote the concept!
  • Join the group with the QR code below to follow the action and hear about organised rides.

This is a great way to kick start your season and start getting into shape before our official rides in the mountains start in Feb.

 

Organised Rides

If you are in Beijing there are some organised rides by the community to help tick off the kilometres ;

Hulu Final Day Brunch - Thursday 30th Jan

As has been the tradition the last few years we will finish the event with a delicious free flow brunch at Hulu in Sunlitun. Hulu has generously supported the event with an exceptional value meal - 180 RMB per person including food, a special firecracker dessert and free flow house wine, beer and coffee.

 

Hot Spring Ride - Wednesday 29th Jan

Owen is organising a ride to a hot spring hotel out in Houshayu. The ride would be 90km return from central Beijing and include a lengthy stop over at the hot springs to soak your weary legs. More details will be released in the group chat closer to the date.

 

Prizes

Every finisher of the Firecracker 400 will be awarded a stem cap.

All finishers of the Firecracker 400 / 100 will also have a chance to win the following prizes which will be drawn from a hat following the event;

TRB vouchers for Hulu and TRB

Serk kit bag

Serk ride vouchers

 

koala

Firecracker 400 Logo

firecracker_400_2020

Official WeChat Group Chat QR code

WechatIMG1190

Stem cap for all that finish the 400km challenge

Screen Shot 2020-01-19 at 11.14.02 pm

How your moments post should look

How your moments post should look.