Walk Bike Ballona

 


Click to download a flier

Join us all summer long for family-friendly activities and rediscover Ballona Creek!

Group Rides • Bike Safety Festivals • Group Walks

Next Up: Walk ‘n Roll Festival, Sun, 9/7, 12 -3, Marina del Rey Middle School
Join us as we rebuild the school’s bike fleet before the Skills Course opens

Click this link to RSVP on Meetup and get a FREE set of bike lights! (Lights are free to all who RSVP and attend the event.)

Click to download a flier

Ballona Creek is one of the greatest natural resources in the Los Angeles area. Draining 130 square miles of a vital watershed, Ballona Creek stretches nine miles form Baldwin Hills to the Pacific Ocean.

Schedule

Join us this summer for family-friendly activities along the creek exploring how to safely connect your community to the Creek. The festivals and rides are a great way to explore your neighborhood and rediscover Ballona Creek! Plus, free raffle at every event and free Z-Bars for the kids! Walk Bike Ballona is made possible by support from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Coca Cola Foundation.

• Saturday, June 28, Group Ride
  Meet at Culver City Middle School, 10 a.m.
• Sunday, July 13, Group Ride
  Meet at Marina del Rey  Middle School, 10 a.m. (12500 Braddock Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90066 – MAP)
• Saturday, July 26 – Walk ‘n Roll Festival
  Culver City Middle School, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (4601 Elenda Street, Culver City, CA 90230 – MAP)
• Saturday, August 16, Group Ride
  Meet at Syd Kronenthal Park (picnic area) , 10 a.m. (3459 McManus Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232 – MAP)
• Sunday, September 7, Walk ‘n Roll Festival , and Bike Build for MDRMS 8 a.m – 3 p.m
  (Bike build 8-12, skills course 12-3) Marina Del Rey Middle School (12500 Braddock Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90066 – MAP)
  RSVP on Meetup and get a free set of bike lights!

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Rediscover Ballona Creek with Us

Made possible by support from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Coca Cola Foundation, Walk-Bike Ballona is a series of activities to highlight this fabulous resource and transit corridor. Our goal is to demonstrate how accessible the Ballona Creek Bike Path is while highlighting its value both ecologically and as a convenient alternative to driving to local schools.

Ballona Creek also serves as a key transit corridor for hundreds of people every day. Families, commuters, students and fitness enthusiasts take advantage of the Ballona Creek Bike Path all year long to connect with communities and schools from Playa del Rey to Culver City.

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Our Walk ‘n Roll Festivals teach bicycle and pedestrian safety skills to children of all ages. Lead by certified instructors, children progress through a series of skills stations and enjoy an instructor-lead ride through the neighborhood to practice what they have learned. Stations include Helmet fitting, bike checks, correct techniques on starting, stopping, yielding and hazard avoidance. We even have bikes and helmets for those without to borrow. Plus, goody bags and completion certificates for all participants!

In addition to the skills portion of the event, children and parents are welcome to participate in the arts and crafts area, speak to community leaders and have fun with additional activities.

Our Group Rides are lead by trained instructors and docents from Ballona Creek Renaissance. and our Ride Leaders are experts on bike safety. Each ride will start from a school location and explore the neighborhood in the school’s vicinity as well as its connectivity to the Creek. Along the ride you will learn how to access the creek path, safely navigate a route to and from schools and essential bike safety rules and guidelines. Plus you will also learn about the ecological value of Ballona Creek. Each ride starts at 10 a.m., is family-friendly, will allow for rest breaks and last about 2 hours. Note: Helmets are required for riders under 18 and strongly encouraged for those 18 and over. Waivers are required for all riders and are available at the ride meetup site.

What to bring:

• A bike in good working order
• Helmet
• Snacks, water
• Sunscreen
• Good quality bike lock (for rest breaks)

Advantages to walking and biking to school

Walking and biking to school has many benefits including helping students be more active, healthier and engaged while learning life-long lessons such as good decision making, responsibility and develop greater community awareness.

• 30% of children in the US are considere obese
• Only 10% of US children receive the recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise
• In 1970, about half of american schoolchildren walked or biked to school. Today, only 13% do.
• School traffic is responsible for up to 25% of morning congestion

Walking and biking to school addresses these concerns and has many additional benefits as well.

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