On Friday, August 19, 2005, the first Cross-Yehuda Bicycle Race took place in Park Britannia. It was sponsored by the Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plain Partnership 2000 and organized by the Shimshon Cyclists Association.

Some 100 cyclists from all over the country participated in the race including men, women and children. The race had a number of routes for each level of cyclist: elite, expert, amateur and riding for fun. The race took place at the same time as the Yoav Yehuda Bible Festival which is in its third year and which has also been supported in the past by Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plain Partnership 2000. The Israel Sport channel filmed the event which will be broadcast next month.

  
The race was the initiative of the Cycling Forum of Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plain Partnership 2000. The idea for a Cycling Forum was first broached more than 18 months ago at a meeting of residents initiated by Partnership 2000 whose theme was "Looking for the Next Idea". At the meeting, residents were asked to propose ideas that would stimulate the economic development of the region. Following this, three community "roundtables" were established, one of them being the Cycling Forum whose leading members were part of the Shimshon Cyclists Association.

In recent months, the members of the Forum were busy planning and organizing the race which we hope will become an annual event. Our region will thus join others in Israel which hold races every year. The Committee for Economic Development of Partnership 2000 is at the same time encouraging additional initiatives which will stimulate economic development and tourism in the region.

Eitan Hevroni, one of the leading members of the Forum: "This is the first race organized by the Cycling Forum. We hope that it will become an annual event. The Cycling Forum, with the support of Partnership 2000, has invested a great deal of time and resources and we are proud of the race's success. Before us are additional challenges which we will deal with in the coming months. We hope that among the participants next year will be competitors and families from the partnership communities of Washington and South Africa."

The next race will take place in September 2006 in the Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plain region.