WATSONVILLE — Light Up the Night, a family-friendly community bike event, will come to Watsonville on March 29.
The group will meet at Watsonville Cyclery, 25 East FIfth St., at 6 p.m. and returns to Watsonville Cyclery by 8 p.m.
The event will offer free bike lights and high visibility gear to participants, followed by a night ride.
From 6-7 p.m., attendees can enjoy free activities hosted by Bike Santa Cruz County, such as reflective spoke card making, custom helmet decoration, and bike safety checks.
Bell Helmets will be on hand to distribute and help install 50 sets of their new Bike Party line of festive bike lights.
Snacks and light refreshments will be provided by Cardenas Market, El Frijolito, Pacific Cookie Company and Coffeeville.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their bicycles and helmets. REI will be offering a bike repair workshop, and volunteers will be on hand to help with bicycle safety checks.
At 7 p.m., the group will depart on a four-mile night ride through downtown Watsonville. The ride includes a stop with prizes for “brightest/most visible rider,” “most well-lit bike” and “most creative costume.” Prizes include programmable LED wheel lights from Monkeylectric, REI backpacks, high-power lights from Bell and other sponsors, and much more. The ride will include music provided by Santa Cruz Bike Party.
Bike Santa Cruz County started Light Up the Night in 2013 in response to a number of fatal crashes involving young cyclists without proper lighting. Over the years, the event has grown to include numerous sponsors and hundreds of free lights. “We are incredibly excited to bring this event to Watsonville,” said Tawn Kennedy, youth programs director for Bike Santa Cruz County. “We’ve hosted this event now in Santa Cruz for a number of years with great success — we typically distribute 150 and 300 lights to participating cyclists. The ultimate goal of this event is to make safe riding at night a fun experience for all ages.”
The City of Watsonville adopted a Vision Zero policy in January 2018 to eliminate all traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities by 2030. Vision Zero is a policy that emphasizes safety education programs.
“Events like Light Up the Night, that educate cyclists and encourage safe cycling in all conditions, are an essential part of the City of Watsonville’s Vision Zero initiative,” said Watsonville Mayor Francisco Estrada.
Lights are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Bike Santa Cruz County recommends that participants arrive early.
