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Kibbutz Be’eri inaugurates world-class bike park
'Another step toward returning home and rebuilding community life', says philanthropist funder Sylvan Adams, in what is expected to be a m,ajor cycling boost for southern Israel
Three years after the 7 October Hamas attacks, Kibbutz Be’eri has inaugurated a new bike park expected to host the Israeli Pump Track Championships.
Funded by a donation from philanthropist Sylvan Adams, in partnership with the nonprofit Israel Cycling Academy and Kibbutz Be’eri, the park was created primarily for children and young people from Be’eri and neighbouring communities devastated by 7 October, to provide a place to meet, ride, train and rebuild confidence through cycling.
At its centre is a world-class pump track, where children and young people from Be’eri and other Western Negev communities rode for the first time during the inauguration, joined by veteran cyclists from the kibbutz.
The ceremony was hosted by Be’eri resident Aya Meidan, who survived an ambush by Hamas terrorists while on her way to her regular Saturday morning ride on 7 October. She opened the event by honouring 14 cyclists and triathletes who were murdered that day, many while riding on the region’s roads and trails.
In a highly emotive speech, fighting back tears, she said: “We received far more than a cycling track. This is a path toward recovery and a future. We will always remember the riders we lost. But this new park will help restore a heartbeat to our wounded community and to the entire Western Negev. It is a place that will bring joy back to our children. We have a country to rebuild and a people to heal, and we will do it through our own small steps. Today, this was our image of victory.”
Meidan’s brother, Be’eri resident Avida Bachar, lost his wife Dana and their son Carmel when Hamas terrorists attacked their home. Bachar was critically wounded and lost his right leg. Standing beside the young riders, he spoke about his rehabilitation and the recovery still ahead for the kibbutz.
“For me, rehabilitation means learning to live as the new Avida — without a wife, without a son and without a leg,” he said. “In the end, what you miss is the human fabric that existed here. Even if they are no longer with us, this is still their home… I can already see the life that will be here: children running around, riding their bikes and their skateboards. This is a meaningful part of Be’eri’s recovery and renewal.”
The idea for the park emerged after Bachar met Adams as a guest of his professional cycling team at the Tour de France. “We spoke about rebuilding Be’eri and the entire Western Negev,” Bachar recalled. “Sylvan told us: ‘Of course we will rebuild everything. We will build it back better, more beautiful and stronger.’ Now, seeing that vision become reality, all I can say is thank you.”
Adams said he would never forget seeing Bachar ride beside him after his injury, with one leg, determination and a smile on his face.
“That was the moment I understood that we had to help Be’eri, a community that has always had cycling at its heart, open a new chapter,” Adams said. “This wonderful facility shows that we are strong, that they cannot break us and that we are here to stay. The park belongs to Be’eri, to the children of the neighbouring communities and to the entire Western Negev.”
Most Be’eri residents are still living temporarily in Hatzerim while more than 130 damaged or destroyed homes are rebuilt. For many residents, the opening marked another step toward returning home and rebuilding community life.
Adams said the pump track is intended as the first stage of a broader effort to develop Be’eri as a cycling centre for the Western Negev and riders from across Israel.
“We are only getting started,” he said. “Our aspiration is to continue developing Be’eri as a centre of cycling, community and life.”
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