By Dan Newman

Special to The Jewish State

After a brutally cold winter, thoughts of hitting the beach and enjoying burgers straight from the barbeque are just a few of the things dancing around in our heads.

If you ask Dave Greenfield, it may also be warm enough to go for a nice bike ride, which is exactly what he and about 30 others did on Sunday in an effort to raise money for Congregation B'Nai Tikvah in North Brunswick.

Greenfield and fellow congregant Leon Suttner came up with the idea and mapped out two separate courses, one of 10 miles and another consisting of 25 miles.

"Both courses left from the temple and eventually came back, and things worked out very nicely, especially with the warm weather that we've been having lately," Greenfield said. "Most of the people did the shorter version, but I think everybody had a good time, and in the process we were able to raise some money for our temple."

Greenfield said about $300 was raised on Sunday, thanks to entry fees that were submitted prior to the event. Greenfield and Suttner hatched the idea because they were into biking and thought maybe others would enjoy it as well.

"It didn't take much to get things going, especially since we were into the sport. So we certainly had an idea of what to do and how to do it," said Greenfield, a member of the Central Jersey Bike Club. "We also had refreshments for everyone afterward, so it overall

things went very well."

So well that Greenfield is thinking about organizing two yearly events in the future, one in the spring and another in the fall, as well as organizing a ride for younger children ("maybe something like five miles or so," Greenfield said.) A ride for parents to do with their children may also come about.

"I'm glad that the temple supported this endeavor. Everybody had a nice time and we were able to raise some money," Greenfield said. "I feel that this could be the beginning of something very worthwhile for our community."