Orange Cove residents bike their way to healthy life styles

The Cumbia Ride event on Saturday, April 9 was part of a three fun bike events – Bike Kitchen, Bike Rodeo, and Cumbia Ride – hosted by Cultiva La Salud at the Orange Cove Community Center to benefit low-income residents in the rural community.

The events, which were done in collaboration with Bici-Projects, Fresno County Bicycle Coalition, Tower Velo, and Fresno Ideaworks, aimed to raise awareness of the need for improved walking and biking infrastructure in Orange Cove while also educating residents on bike safety and maintenance, said Eva Falk, Communications Specialist for Cultiva La Salud.

More than 30 residents received free bike repairs at the Bike Kitchen event. Experts provided free diagnostics and repairs needed to get their bikes functioning so those residents could get back on their bikes and enjoy the benefits of bicycling while supplies lasted. Also residents were taught “do-it-yourself” (DIY) bike repair by bike mechanics experts.

The Bike Rodeo provided bike safety lessons while teaching kids and adults cyclers safety techniques such as safe stopping and signaling properly, safe lane merging, proper helmet and bike fittings, and rock-dodging among other skills to be safe on the road. The bike rodeo allowed participants of all ages the opportunity to learn bicycling safety skills through a road-simulated course.

According to Falk, events like these are important to encourage residents to live active lifestyles so they can live long, healthy lives.

Falk said Latino families in Orange Cove have limited access to safe places to be active and Orange Cove has limited bike and pedestrian infrastructure to promote walking and biking adding that with limited resources predispose residents to sedentary lifestyles which in-turn increase risks for obesity and obesity related diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Walking with the mayor

Cultiva la Salud also hosted a “Walk with the Mayor” event and Health Fair in Orange Cove on April 6 in collaboration with United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley.

The event, which celebrated National Walking Day with the intention of encouraging active living, had approximately 40 community residents attending to walk with Mayor Victor Lopez, who shared his own health struggles with diabetes and the changes he made in his life to improve his health, reduce his weight, and increase his chance of living a healthy life. He also encouraged residents to maintain their own health with healthy eating and active living habits.