CREATE Inc. will be hosting a Family Ride Day Saturday, Oct. 4, to bring families together and promote cycling.
CREATE has been involved with the Baldwin County School District for several years, teaching cycling in Midway Hills Primary and Elementary, Lakeview Primary, Lakeview Academy, Oak Hill Middle School, and at Baldwin High School.
CREATE uses its own curriculum in the primary and elementary schools to teach about bicycles, balancing, and the basics of riding a bike. For middle and high school, they use a curriculum provided by Ride 4 Focus to teach about riding safety, teamwork, bike maintenance, riding on the roads, and more.
“We spend four weeks in each school teaching,” said Toyia Barnes, CREATE program director. “We’ve hosted these classes for a few years now to introduce cycling, promote physical exercise, and get students involved with our Out of School Cycling Program. All the bikes and equipment used in the classes and our out of school program are provided by us.”
The Out of School program offers a free experience for all levels of riders from kindergarten to high school. Participants learn about eating correctly, being fit, how to care for their bike, how to ride with a team, and much more. For very advanced riders, there are also opportunities to participate in Bicycle Ride Across America, which involves biking from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, typically over 4,000 miles.
“Any of our members who complete the Bicycle Ride Across America have the chance to do international rides,” said Barnes.
“This year the international ride is a 24-hour ride from London to Paris, accumulating up to 156 miles.”
The ride will take place from May 2-3, 2026, but the group will be gone for a week. Up to five students will be funded to go this year through fundraising efforts by the non-profit.
“All of our programs, including international rides, are free to the students. We fundraise to ensure that all kids have a chance to go, and most of our riders use our bikes,” said Barnes.
Free bikes will also be provided for kindergartners through adults at the Family Day event. CREATE cycling coaches, certified by the League of American Cycling, will lead the ride and bikers will also have the choice to ride in the parking lot if they are uncomfortable riding the biking trail.
“This event is about peddling together and bonding forever, which is our event name,” said Baldwin County Federal Program Specialist Shonya Mapp, who helped plan the event. “Our goal is to help guardians build a bond with their children and we wanted to expand on the father and son event we did last year to allow anyone to ride.”
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. Bikers should meet in front of Baldwin County High School at 155 Georgia Highway 49. For more information, contact Mapp at 478-457-2960 or email her at shonya. mapp@bladwin.k12. ga.us.