BIKE WITH MIKE. Rep. Mike Thompson will be hosting a bike ride in Benicia next Sunday. (File photo)

Opportunity to donate to STEAM program available

Next Sunday, Benicians will have the opportunity to meet with their congressman while getting some exercise. Rep. Mike Thompson will be coming to town for a bike ride.

In commemoration of Bike Month, Thompson is making the rounds and going on bicycle rides with his constituents. On May 5, he came to Vallejo for rides along the Waterfront to Route 37, and along a loop that took riders across the Carquinez and Benicia-Martinez bridges. On Sunday, Thompson will be on a bike route that goes from First Street to the Benicia State Recreation Area and back.

Ride Coordinator Nancy Lund says the event provides Benicians with a chance to meet their representative in Congress.

“Mike Thompson is very available to people anyway,” she said. “He’s very interactive with the citizens. He’s very available when he’s around. I really wanted the youngsters and the kids— elementary, middle and high schoolers—to have an opportunity to talk to their own congressman in a little more informal setting.”

Since Thompson is a cyclist himself, holding a bike ride seemed like a natural way to meet his constituents, Lund said.

Thompson has been part of numerous bike rides in Benicia in the last few years, but this is the first time people will have the opportunity to support a cause. Although the bike ride is free, participants will have the option to donate to benefit Benicia Unified School District’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math (STEAM) program.

STEAM is an educational approach that utilizes the above disciplines in creative ways to provide skills in inquiry, critical thinking and more. All of BUSD’s elementary schools offer a STEAM program, including a rotating STEAM Wheel elective program and STEAM Nights at all the elementary schools. The program is funded through the Benicia Education Foundation.

Lund said the ride was initially just going to be a family ride with Thompson, but the bike community figured they should do more to support local groups. Lund figured they should support the Benicia Education Foundation in a manner similar to the Run for Education the organization hosts every year.

Lund said the ride would be a good opportunity to support the STEAM program and raise awareness of it.

“When I’ve gone out to the businesses in the community, many people did not know about this program,” she said. “It’s been informational for them.”

Additionally, Lund hopes the event will encourage more people to bike around Benicia on their own.

“I want people to see that it’s safe to ride in Benicia,” she said. “We have routes that are not traffic intensive, and you can ride from downtown safely out to the State Recreation Area and back.”

The ride will begin 8:30 a.m. Sunday, May 20 at the corner of First and B streets and move to the State Recreation Area before returning to its starting points. Families are welcome, and helmets are required. A donation to the STEAM program is voluntary but encouraged. For more information, call Lund at 748-0155.

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