The Cycling4Diversity team began its four-day journey on Tuesday morning and will pedal from Victoria and finish the trek in Abbotsford on May 24.

According to Ken Herar, the driving force behind this campaign, the journey will end up at The Reach Gallery Museum with an event called Rally in the Valley for Cultural Diversity from 6 – 7 p.m.

“On our third annual C4D ride we’ll be visiting 14 cities and making 27 stops en route,“ says Ken Herar.

“After months of planning, we are excited to kick off this initiative and prepared to speak to thousands of people on the topics of cultural diversity, inclusion and racism,“ says Herar.

“I only wanted to do the ride once in 2011, but through the encouragement and vision of co-founder Sarina Di Martino Derksen, we have turned this into an annual event,“ he says.

“What got me started with the event was when I was not allowed to attend a Christmas party in 2010 because I was of South Asian descent. This particular incident was the final straw for me personally.“

“But there were also e-mails I had previously received in which people shared how our various communities are not connected and are growing.“

“We all have to step up as one community and do better. One of the things I often share during C4D in British Columbia is we ask people to reflect on their prejudices and biases and see if they can be corrected and changed,“ says Herar.

Cycling4Diversity offers opportunities for learning, dialogue and discussions on the benefits of cultural diversity and the importance of eliminating racism.