'Jousting' event to raise money for Redemptive Cycles

Gear up for Redemptive Cycles’ 6th annual Tall Bikes Joust on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Ghost Train Brewery.

The nonprofit organization is hosting their annual jousting event to bring awareness to transportation equity issues and fundraise to continue their mission. Participants are encouraged to buy tickets and put money on their favorite jouster as donations.

“We just wanted to bring a fun, crazy event to Birmingham,” said Kathryn Doornbos, the executive director at Redemptive Cycles.

The Tall Bike Joust starts the night with a showcase of other organizations that are cycling-friendly, where attendees are able to meet and greet with jousters, have a beer and learn about the specially-made bikes and jousting. The event itself is a one-on-one battle, held in a tournament style with a point system based on who hits the ground first. 

“We want to have a really great fun evening,” said Doornbos. “We want to raise awareness about what Redemptive Cycles does in the community and the impact that we’re having on transportation, and of course we want to fund raise.”

Redemptive Cycles is able to help the community and promote bicycling through their Earn-A-Bike program and their Sliding Scale Repair model.

The Earn-A-Bike Program allows low-income and homeless community members to earn a bike from completing 12 hours of community service and gain safety gear and credit for future repairs that they may need. The Sliding-Scale model allows bicycle owners to get repairs and pay what they can, when they can.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are sold at tallbikejoust.org, where more information on the event can also be found.