PNND Italian members Filippo Fossati MP and Salvatore Capone MP welcome to Rome the World Bike Ride for Peace – a global initiative to support a world free from nuclear weapons. Cyclists include Tore Naerland (a visually impaired cyclist), Frank Tomlinson (who rides with Tore on a tandem bike), Thore Vestby (Member of PNND and Mayors for Peace) and Anita Valen (Norwegian Olympic cycling champion).
PNND members Filippo Fossati MP and Salvatore Capone MP with Tore Naerland and PNND Italy Coordinator Lisa Clark
The bike ride, which goes through Europe, Asia and North America, is led by cyclist Tore Naerland from Norway. Tore is vision impaired (partially blind) and thus rides a tandem bike with Frank Tomlinson – who has unimpaired sight.
Also on the bike ride are Anita Valen, an Olympian cyclist who promotes the involvement of children and disabled persons in sport, and Thore Vestby, Mayor of Frogn and a first deputy to the Norwegian Parliament. Mr Vestby is a leading member of Mayors for Peace and a new member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
The Lord Mayor of Manchester and others launch the 2014 World Bike Ride for Peace
The principal aim of the World Bike Ride for Peace is to highlight the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons, and thus the imperative to prohibit and eliminate them. Secondary aims are to prevent and reverse climate change, and to promote respect for, and inclusion of, all people regardless of gender or physical abilities.
In 2011 the World Bike Ride for Peace cycled through Kazakhstan – a country devastated by the impact of Soviet nuclear tests with nearly 2 million victims from the resulting radioactive fallout.
This year the World Bike Ride for Peace is concentrating on the Nuclear Weapon States and some of their nuclear allies – going to China, France, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell-Masgne Bondevik
The World Bike Ride for Peace has also been supported by Edna Solberg (Norwegian Prime Minister), Gordon Brown (former UK Prime Minister) and Bard Vegar Solheil (former Norwegian Minister of the Environment).
For further information contact:
Bike for Peace,
Tore Nærland: tore.naerland@jkn.no
phone: +47 51487777 / +47 93442279