CSU-Pueblo’s chapter of Enactus will be hosting a community biking event in Pueblo on May 2 with the help of local businesses.
The event, which will be called Tour de Fun, is a community bike ride around the downtown area. The biking will be followed by a celebration with live music, alcoholic beverages for legal adults and a bicycle scavenger hunt in which local students, ages six to 12, can participate.
Enactus is a worldwide organization that uses the business principle of entrepreneurship to help promote the community’s health and environmental and business success. Instead of focusing entirely on profit, they are focused more on building the community through teamwork. The organization’s goal is that all parties involved in their events benefit.
The first half of the day will consist of the scavenger hunt where kids can ride to three to five stations and learn more about healthy snacks, safe bike riding techniques, as well as participate in fun activities such as face painting and bike decorations.
Following the scavenger hunt, the kids can take part in a one to two mile bike ride, which will stay in the downtown area near the Historic Riverwalk. Prizes will be given out to the most creative costume designs and longest bike logs leading up to the event. There will also be concessions during this event for the parents, including food and coffee.
“Safety is a major concern of ours, and we will work with local officials and the police departments to make sure that the students are safe during the entire event,” said Chris Barnet, president of Enactus.
Barnet said he hopes to have an assembly at the high schools so he can bring in local BMX riders to do tricks for the students and get them excited to take part in the event.
Later in the evening, there will be an event for adults, which will consist of an approximately two mile community bike ride downtown near the Historic River Walk. This will be followed by a celebration filled with concessions, drinks and live music.
The majority of the funds raised from the event will go to local District 60 schools. This money will go to help fund an after school athletic program for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
While the businesses allowed to handle concessions will be strictly local, Enactus is also seeking donations for the event from sponsors in the community. They hope to raise a large amount of money for the local D60 schools, all while promoting local business and raising health awareness.
“We also are hoping to generate more interest in biking within Pueblo and bring in revenue to local vendors of Pueblo,” Barnet said.
They are currently looking for sponsors for door prizes and will be talking to local bike shops within the next few weeks to help with donations such as bikes and safety gear, among others.
“We are very excited about this project and hope that the local community will share our enthusiasm,” Barnet said. “We look forward to seeing the overall improvement within Pueblo in terms of bike friendliness, increased local business and most importantly to fundraise for local D60 schools.”
For more information, Barnet can be contacted at 719-334-3354.
