11:30am | Pedal out to Miller’s Children’s Hospital on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and you’ll get a free bike tune-up courtesy of JAX Bicycle Center, all while pediatric cancer patients and one of their doctors mount tricycles to take on former Olympic cyclist Tony Cruz in a race around the hospital’s circular driveway that will be called by Mayor Bob Foster.
Yeah, it’s silly, but the bigger picture is the kickoff of the BikeFest Tour of Long Beach, which culminates May 5 with the with the big events: the 31- and 62-mile Tour(s) of Long Beach races, a four-mile Family Fun Ride, and BikeFest, the free annual event on The Pike at Rainbow Harbor that includes live entertainment, a vendor fair, a kids’ activity area, a craft beer garden (Beachwood BBQ!), and (of course) a complimentary bike valet service.
The tie-in to Miller Children’s Hospital is simple: proceeds from the Tour of Long Beach benefit the patients and families at the Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center at Miller Children’s.
On April 22, Cruz, who is the Tour of Long Beach’s co-founder and the City’s official “bicycle ambassador,” will lead Tour registrants on a 17-mile training ride starting from Miller Children’s Hospital at 10 a.m.
For more information on the BikeFest Tour of Long Beach, go to www.bikefestlb.com.