The Long Beach International City Bank, ICB Marathon Bike Tour is a great way to enjoy a fun and family friendly bike ride in Long Beach. After picking up my goody bag and bike tour bib number the day before, I was set for a fun day on wheels. I started the off my early morning by leaving my house with about 20 of my closest friends and family. We made our way over the start line on Shoreline Blvd. I was the "Grand Marshall" for the 3rd year in a row and got up on the stage to say a few words to the anxious crowd of cyclist before taking my place at the head of the 4000 participants and waited for the gun to be fired for the start.
Our pace was a casual one with my brother-in-law pulling his boy, Logan Cassatt, in a bike trailer next to me while my wife, kids, friends, sister-in-law, and about 6 of my nieces and their friends weaved side to side up the road over the Queens Way Bridge just ahead of us. During the ride I got to see a lot of my friends and their kids as we toured our way through the city streets of the town we love. There were bands playing, DJ's, and pep rallies at every water station which really got my little 6 year old, Aidan Cruz, pedaling faster and faster on his little half bike behind me, eyes wide open.
You also have folks setting the fastest lap on the course, vying for those ever so coveted "local bragging rights, while wearing the latest in hi-tech cycling gear and apparel. As temping as it was to join them I tend to ride next to the guy riding the double decker bike towering 6 feet above everyone else or the 3 wheeler bike with the 12 inch sub woofers, car battery, and car sterio mounted to it. Coming from the world of professional cycling, it's refreshing to see how a whole community can come together once a year to celebrate the joy of bike riding. If you ever have the time in late October for a fun filled day on wheels, I suggest you come out and join us for the Long Beach International City Bank, ICB Marathon Bike Tour!
2.22.2010 at 3:35 PM
I live en Lakewood and a like more informacion above biking tours, please. Thanks