Roots Pursuit bicycle event Sunday supports food banks
<p>Jacob Rothrock, left, and Andy Neels, right, dressed up as a fisherman and fly and rode a tandem bicycle at the Roots Pursuit bike event in 2014. This year's event will run from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 5.</p>
The Roots Pursuit bicycle event is back for its fifth summer of fun in Coeur d’Alene. Sunday, June 5, teams of two or three will ride their bikes around town to all four stations where they have to complete tasks and challenges to gain points. The team with the most points at the end of the two-hour event wins.
The race starts at the Shared Harvest Community Garden at 1004 E. Foster Ave. at 10 a.m. People can preregister online at https://kealliance.givezooks.com/events/roots-pursuit-16 or with Korrine Rothrock, Root Pursuits event coordinator, at (208) 660-6033. Registration is $15 per person, but teams have to register together.
Day-of registration starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 9:30. Everyone is encouraged to dress in wacky costumes.
“I think it is healthy to have a good laugh at yourself every now and again,” Rothrock said. “It’s like ‘The Amazing Race’ and ‘Survivor’ mixed with humor.”
Some of the station activities will include riding around with a cup of water strapped to your helmet and bubble jousting. Bubble jousting is where a member from one team rides their bike at a member from another team. One person uses a bubble wand to make bubbles as they ride while the other person tries to pop as many bubbles as possible. The more bubbles popped, the more points that team gets.
“It’s stuff that’s challenging but not in the usual race way,” Rothrock said.
After the race, teams will meet back at the Shared Harvest Community Garden for awards, raffle prizes and food and drink. Teams will gather raffle tickets throughout their adventure and will be able to submit them at the after-party for a chance to win a new cruiser bike.
New Belgium Brewing Co. is sponsoring the event and will be giving out its beer for a donation to the Community Roots Local Food Share program of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance.
Community Roots Local Food Share is a program where volunteers collect surplus produce from backyard gardeners and growers at the farmers market. They use bike carts to transport the food from the growers to the Shared Harvest Community Garden. The program then invites food assistance facility representatives to pick up the fresh fruits and vegetables they want to incorporate into their weekly free meal programs. Leftovers are delivered to local food banks or are used in food preservation classes.
So far the program has distributed more than 50,000 pounds of produce to local food assistance facilities.
With the themes of biking, local food systems and water quality, the Roots Pursuit has grown each year.
“Lots of people are registering and it attracts volunteers to bike food for the Local Food Share,” Rothrock said. “It’s not only a fundraiser, but a volunteer-raiser, too.”