SoCal Charity Folding Bike Ride

A Fun, Multi-Modal Folding Bike Ride Benefiting Charity
by Larry Lagarde

Attention folding bike fans: if you're going to be in L.A. on Saturday, April 19th, here's an event that will interest you - the SoCal Charity Folding Bike Ride.

The ride will showcase the uniqueness and mobility of folding bikes while raising money for a good cause. Proceeds will benefit World Bicycle Relief, an organization that donates bicycles to less fortunate countries.

I asked ride organizer Jolleen Filio what motivated her to put this event together. Her response is shown below. (Photo right: Jolleen's Kent Utralite folding bike)

I'm an undergraduate student at UCLA and I commute around 40 miles everyday by bike and public transportation. I got a folding bike because the regulations of LA Metro state that folding bikes are allowed at all times on all buses and trains. If you have a full-sized bike, there are time and space restrictions on carrying your bike on public transport, and that wouldn't work with my commuting times.

I found that folding bikes are a great way to supplement my commute--taking buses all the way takes almost an hour longer than when I ride my bike part of the way because of the horrible LA traffic! With the folding bikes though, I can just unfold and zip right through traffic jams.

I decided to organize this ride because I wanted to promote commuting by bike + public transportation. I found that folding bikes attract a lot of attention from non-cyclists because of their cool looks and oddness (I get at least one question a day about my bike), and maybe the "coolness" factor can draw more people into a cycling or semi-cycling commute. I also organized it so that folder owners in SoCal could show off their bikes and test out other bikes.

Since folding bikes are a niche product, not many bike shops carry a lot of models, and this ride is a way to test out the many different brands and models we have here.

I got the idea of making it a charity ride because of a successful charity ride another bikeforum member from SoCal put together, and decided on World Bicycle Relief because their goals of increasing mobility to people in poor communities through bike donations resonates with my ride's goals of increasing mobility by incorporating folding bikes in commuting.

SoCal Charity Folding Bike Ride - At A Glance
Date: 04/19/2008
Time: 9:00am
Place: Union Station Courtyard (Alameda side), Los Angeles, CA.
Ride Description: A multi-modal journey including public transportation via the Los Angeles Metro system.
Roll-off time: 9:30am
More Info: http://socalfolderride.freehostia.com/index.htm

By the way, Jolleen credits the info on RideTHISbike.com as the reason for purchasing her Kent Ultralite 6 speed. Thanks Jolleen :-)