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North County celebrates Bike Month 

Cycle de Mayo

Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley and Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin ready for the first Cycle de Mayo event that includes all of North County. The event will take place on Sunday, May 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Photo by Heather Young

Cycle de Mayo expands to encompass Paso Robles, Templeton, Atascadero

For the first time, Atascadero and Paso Robles mayors have come together to plan a North County bike event. Long-time friends Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley and Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin both graduated from Atascadero High School in 1968 and for the first time they are both serving as mayors concurrently.

The two banded together to expand the yearly bike event O’Malley started in Atascadero several years ago. This year’s event will include guided adult bike rides from Sunken Gardens in Atascadero and Paso Robles Downtown City Park to Templeton Community Park on Sunday, May 17 at 10 a.m., followed by a celebration for Bike Month in the park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For the last few years, the bike event in Atascadero has been called Cycle de Mayo and was held close to Cinco de Mayo. Over the years it’s morphed from a simple ride with no other festivities, to an event lasting several hours and including families and people of all ages.

“Tom and I have been looking for ways to broaden events [in] both communities,” Martin said. “We talked about Templeton being the missing link between Atascadero and Paso Robles [for the bike trail].”

The two mayors partnered with Steve Fleury, the owner of Best Bike Zone in Paso Robles, who will coordinate the bike ride portions of the event. There will be two longer bike rides, one starting at Sunken Gardens in Atascadero and the other at Downtown City Park in Paso Robles. While Fleury has not yet set the route for the ride, he said each ride will be approximately 15 to 18 miles in length, which he anticipates will take about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.

“We felt for the kids, it would be better to have their bikes at the park — do a ride around the park,” Martin said.

Once at the ride, there will be bicycle valet parking courtesy of the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition. Fleury said that there will be a short family bike ride around Templeton. In addition to the rides, there will be a BMX stunt show at 1 p.m. with face painting, bike decorating, bike safety rodeo, food and live music. For more information on the event or to pre-order tri-tip barbecue tickets, go to www.cycledemayo.com.

For more information about Bike Month in SLO County, go to www.rideshare.org/program/bike-month or call (805) 781-1385.

Schedule of events:

  • 10 a.m.: Group rides start in Atascadero and Paso Robles
  • 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Kids’ bike rodeo
  • Noon: Live music starts
  • Noon: Bike decoration booth opens
  • 12:30 p.m.: family bike ride
  • 1 p.m.: BMX stunt show
  • All day: Santa Maria-style tri-tip barbecue and face painting

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