With partly cloudy skies and a high of seventy degrees, the weather was just right for the City of Davis’s annual Loopalooza event Sunday, May 7, 2023. The 12-mile route follows the Davis Bike Loop but adds rest stations along the way with activities and local organizations managing them. To make it easier for participants all over the city, you can begin the bike ride at any location and follow the loop in either direction. This tradition is a collaborative effort between the City of Davis and Bike Davis, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting bike culture in Davis and a Cool Davis partner.

Many families took advantage of the event to bond with their children and explore parts of the city that they may not always visit. “It’s just been fun to ride around in an organized way in parts of Davis that we don’t always ride around in,” said Alec Glass, a father participating in the event with his family. “We usually are just riding back and forth to school and to the ARC and back and that kind of stuff and it’s nice to be able to explore other parts of the city and have little stops.”

And the stops are certainly what helps families with young children participate in long and tiring events like this, breaking down the loop into manageable, shorter sections with something to look forward to at each stop. Many of the children said that these stations were their favorite part of the entire event, smiling as they recounted the insects and animal skulls they saw at one of the stops.

Station three was home to Cool Davis, where participants of Loopalooza who lingered learned about the Earth Day Pledge Challenge. Those who had the time were asked to sign up to pledge to do at least one action in each of the five categories in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. These categories include diversifying your ride, eating thoughtfully, and getting involved. To keep things interesting for the children that participated, the stop also offered a coloring station, as well as a hula hoop activity and our mascots to take pictures with.

The Cool Davis mascot, El Rayito, is a big yellow sun, representing the power of solar energy, smiling tomatoes for healthy local, food, and extra big footprints to encouraging lowering our environmental impacts, floated around the station. Many participants were the happiest about the water station, however, often audibly commenting about how much they needed it.

The mayor of Davis, Will Arnold, was also able to come out with his family, and said that “[Loopalooza] shows how accessible all corners of the town are by all modes of travel and that’s really cool. We don’t live anywhere near [station 3], we’re on the other side of town pretty much. It’s accessible, it’s cool, it’s a fun ride, it’s nice, it feels safe.”

People from all over came to ride the loop at Davis, many from Sacramento. One participant, Micheal Hutnick, took advantage of an Amtrak Capitol Corridor promotion for $5 tickets to take the train back to Sac aftering biking to Davis, making the overall trip with his daughter more manageable. On the train trip from Sac, he even made friends with some of the other passengers that also planned to ride the loop and had been with them all day.

Loopaloza is a great event that gives many families the opportunity to exercise, bond, and connect with other members of the community. Nearly all the people interviewed had participated in this event before, and look forward to it every year. Those who hadn’t come before often expressed a desire to do it again, stating that they greatly enjoyed their experience. The last family to finish at our station was breathless and smiling ear to ear, cheering as they collected their Loopalooza button. “We love it,” they said. “We want to do it every year.”

Photos of the fun below. See the full collection on our Cool Davis Facebook page.

 

Participants sign up for the Yolo Earth Day Pledge at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

SVCC Fellows and Cool Davis staff pose with community member powering his ride with solar panels at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

Parents chatting with staff at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

Cool Davis partner The Bike Campaign tricycle rolls by the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

UC Davis Writing Program Inter (author), community volunteer Sidney Short, and Cool Davis staff showing off mascots at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

 

SVCC Fellows having a swing at it at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

 

UC Davis Community Development Intern Nick Murphy, community volunteer Sidney Short, staff Leslie Crenna, Hillary Hoang, SVCC Fellows Emily Vu, Karen Castenada, Ben Vang, and staff Chris Granger at the Cool Davis Loopalooza station #3, Saturday May 7, 2023. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

More cool stuff

Link to Loopalooza on City website

Link to Cool Davis Earth Day Pledge Challenge webpage (accepting new pledges through July 22, 2023)

Amtrak Fare Deals here (Capitol Corridor Take 5 for $5): https://www.amtrak.com/deals