BRIDGING THE FAITH GAP: Line astern, the bikers set off along the Jeddah Corniche on the start of the final leg of the journey to Makkah. (AN photo by Roger Harrison)

JEDDAH: A group of 23 bikers arrived in Jeddah on Sunday night on their way from Rome to Makkah. No heavy Harleyed hairies these, the group had bicycled from Rome with a letter of good will from the pope to the Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.

The super fit group of cyclists, most of whom are over 60 and all from the Netherlands and Germany, left Rome on Sept. 23 after an audience with the pope and passed through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Jordan on their way to Saudi Arabia.

“It has been a pleasant ride, and now that we have arrived, we are very happy to be here,” said Leo Schmidt, the unofficial captain of the group. “We had no trouble at all with visas on the way, just a little dehydration with these high temperatures. But we are all fit — it was no problem.”

The group chose the Rome-to-Makkah journey because it was “probably the most important pilgrimage you can do; it’s a pilgrimage of hope and to build a bridge between the religions and cultures of Islam and Christianity,” said Schmidt.

The trip coincides with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s recent raising of the profile of the importance of interfaith dialogue. The riders came together through advertising for members. They hardly knew each other when they started out. “But we are all good friends now,” said Schmidt. They met early this year and conducted some cycle tours in Holland before setting out on their current journey.

All regular cyclists, they were fit before they started and this proved invaluable through the hilly country of Turkey and Jordan, where they journeyed down to the Dead Sea and the lowest point on earth.

“In the Netherlands, people are born with bicycles, it’s genetic,” wisecracked 65-year-old Roelof Tendousschate.

The group arrived at the Makkah checkpoint Monday afternoon at the completion of their journey of hope. The group will later go to Taif and ride the escarpment road in cooler climates to Al-Baha, and on to Bisha, sightseeing and experiencing the beauties of the Kingdom’s southern highlands.

The members of the group were unanimous in the outstanding feature of the tour. “Everywhere we have been, it has been the hospitality and the reception from the people,” said Kurt Ramin.

“It was the slogan of our ride,” added Schmidt, “People meet people.”