Hundreds of women from around the world took to their bicycles in Lebanon on Tuesday to pedal for regional peace. The third annual "Follow the Women - Women for Peace" bike tour completed its first leg around Lebanon with nearly 250 women riding from Sidon to Beirut - a journey of 50 kilometers that took them about six hours to complete.

Apr. 10, 2007- The female participants, who come from about 30 different countries, found more than just their bicycles waiting for them in Sidon - many of the coastal city's residents flocked to the streets to witness the event.

Small children, their faces painted with Lebanese flags, danced through the crowds, asking to have a turn on a bike. A giant poster of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was unfurled across Sidon's Sea Castle. Even a marching band chimed in for the festivities.

"So many people came out, it was overwhelming," said Bernadette Regan, the president and founder of the project. Regan, a British citizen, has been organizing the "Follow the Women" tour since its first journey in 2004. "Follow the Women is growing which is a great feeling," she said.

As the Lebanese national anthem played, pedals turned and the Sidon-Beirut tour was off. This year's journey was a reversal of the 2005 event, when bikers left Beirut for Sidon.

Although many of the participants are avid cyclers, most of the women say that biking is not the best part of the event.

"It's not really about the cycling," said Jordanian team member Sherine Rahil, 29, who is of Palestinian origin. "It's about all of us coming together for peace and getting that message across."

Rahil, riding with a red rose tucked behind her right ear and a black and white keffiyeh slung around her shoulders, said it was about women from different countries meeting as individuals and getting to know each other.

"It feels like I have known them forever and we feel so close. When the women get to Jordan, I'm going to invite everyone to my house for dinner," Rahil said.

This year's "Follow the Women" tour kicked off in Aleppo, Syria, with participants crossing into Lebanon through the northern border on Monday.

"Follow the Women" is not a race. Women biked at their own pace, occasionally stopping to take photos of the flora or a bombed out-bridge, and chatting with neighboring bikers.

"The whole day was amazing. I spoke with women from Canada, Denmark, Poland and Iran. The Iranian women surprised me. They are so smart and gorgeous," said Lebanese participant Manal Mawla.

The Iranian participants said they were happy to correct the false stereotypes about life in the Islamic Republic.

"So many people thought all women in Iran are covered in black and so it's nice to be here to say 'It's not like that.' There's a new generation that exists in Iran," said Hajar, 25, a student who chose not to disclose her last name.

During breaks, the women drank water, snacked on dates and apricots, talked about the pain in the legs or backsides or - gasp - smoked cigarettes.

"I started learning how to ride a bike just for this trip," said Sybil Pereira, from the United Kingdom. She practiced "seriously" for three months. "I read about it in the Times and decided it was something I wanted to do. I hadn't been to the Middle East."

After fewer than 24 hours in Lebanon, Pereira said she is convinced that she "could live in Beirut. I love it here, I love the people ... it's all such a wonderful atmosphere."

The trail of women did not go unnoticed: little boys smiled and waved, young men whistled and snapped photos while older men nodded and gave thumbs up.

The one catch to a day of inspiring female empowerment was that men from the Progressive Youth Organization and the I Love Life campaign, two of several organizations sponsoring the Lebanon leg of the event, drove on dirt bikes alongside the women throughout the tour, reminding them to "stay on the right" and telling them where to go.

"I want to thank the Lebanese people because they have been through so much this year and yet they still welcomed us," said Arafat, who lives in Ramallah. Her comments came despite the fact that the Palestinian team had been held up for three hours at the border.

When she was two months old, Arafat's parents were killed in the 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside Beirut. She was later adopted by the late Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"Just that they let us into Lebanon is a first step toward peace," said Arafat, who has participated in every "Follow the Women" ride.

From Sidon, the bike ride followed the sea north, winding through Remeile, Sibine and Jiyyeh. After a brief, somewhat terrifying, stint along the highway, the group passed Naame, and stopped to hydrate and rest before the last 15-kilometer stretch into the capital.

It was after the slow incline through Ouzai that the group really felt the burn. By the time the cyclists entered hilly West Beirut, many had fallen silent and were concentrating on peddling. In a moment of patience, perhaps also amusement, cars stopped to let the cyclists pass.

"Follow the Women" ended with a lunch at Qoreitem, which was attended by MPs Bahia Hariri, Atef Majdalani and Mohammad Qabbani. Parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri was unable to attend but thanked the women and honored them with the lunch.

On Wednesday the women will divide into three groups to tour the Bekaa, the Chouf and Tripoli. Later in the week, the group will return to Syria before heading south to Jordan and, if Israeli border guards permit, to the Occupied West Bank.

Many of the Western cyclists said that they were surprised to learn that the Middle East is not what it seems to be in the media. Many Arab participants, for their part, expressed gratitude that so many foreign nationals were so eager to tour the Middle East and learn about the region through other women's experiences. It's not world peace but it could very well be a wheel in the right direction.