Berkley Biking Dinner Cruise Set for Wednesday

Ready your helmets, the Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee is inviting community members to take part in a biking adventure complete with dinner and ice cream.

“It’s going to be family friendly in nature,” Lisa Platt Auensen, the committee’s City Council liaison, said of Wednesday's Berkley Bicycle Dinner Cruise. “It’s designed for people of all abilities to come out and enjoy the weather and the city of Berkley.”

The committee was formed four years ago as an ad hoc committee to look at municipal energy consumption to save the city money, said Auensen, who was on that founding committee.

Last year, City Council voted to establish it as a permanent seven-member committee. Over time, the committee expanded its vision to include increasing municipal recycling awareness and the idea that most places in the city can be reached by biking or walking.

“The city is really approachable from a biking and walking standpoint because it’s only 2.5 square miles,” Auensen said. “The committee has looked at ways to unite the city through bicycle super highways to get people safely to their homes and businesses without cars.”

That is where Auensen said the Biking Dinner Cruise fits in with the environmental committee’s initiative because it is encouraging people to get out and bike.

Riders participating in the dinner cruise are meeting at the at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and will take a five-mile route to for dinner and then continue on to for ice cream.

“There’s also a shorter loop for kids who can’t keep pace with the longer route,” Auensen said. “That’s because this is a really family focused event.”

This is the second dinner cruise the environmental advisory committee is hosting. Last fall, a small group braved a rainy night.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed for better weather this time around,” Auensen said.

At least a dozen people are signed up for Wednesday's ride, said Dave Hurst, organizer of the Bicycle Dinner Cruise and chair of the Non-Motorized Transportation Committee of the Environmental Advisory Committee. Ideally, he'd like between 20-30 people to participate in the event. Another cruise is being planned for the fall and hopefully as annual events, he said.

“They don’t want too large a group because of the logistics of coordinating dinner,” Auensen explained. “But they want enough people so it feels like they’re bringing the community together and get people out to meet their neighbors and enjoy the nice Berkley venues in an event that’s bike-focused.”

For more information or to RSVP, check the event page on Facebook.