Record Numbers Enlist in Patriotic Bike Parade

Children rode their gaily decorated bicycles Monday down the beach at Belmont Shore's eighth annual Great American 4th of July Kids Bike Parade.

With bikes decorated like rockets, pirate ships and the Lady Liberty Ferry, a record-breaking 500 kids and their parents attended the event.

“It’s amazing how much creativity is in these children,” said first-time parade spectator Jeanette Neumann, mother of Little Miss Long Beach 2011, Sydney Neumann.  “It’s great to see them excited about a piece of American history.”

Riding beach cruisers, three-wheelers, bikes with training wheels, mountain bikes, scooters, and skateboards, participants cruised down the beach bike path under blue skies.

Some bikes had bells, others had pinwheels, flags, and streamers dangling from handlebars, seats and wheels.

The previous record for bike parade attendees was 300, but this year’s event far surpassed that estimate.

The yearly event is organized by Belmont Shore local Justin Rudd and his charity the Community Action Team.

The parade was born after Rudd learned the community had no such parade.

The parade has been so popular that it has graced the cover of Parade magazine and was featured on NBC’s Today Show.

Janice Aldana and her daughter’s family came from Glendora just to participate in the parade.  As she sat in the shade feeding her 3-month-old granddaughter, she bragged that her 3-year-old grandson “went all the way to the end last year” and that she “was here for the long haul.”

The route started and finished at the boat launch ramp off Granada Avenue.

The route follows the bike path that continues down Bay Shore Avenue to Second Street.  The parade allows spectators a chance to catch some of the patriotic costumes and decorations on which the children work hard.

“The parade is very patriotic, very spirited, so much red, white, and blue,” said Long Beach resident Michelle Gonzalez, a mother of two  For Gonzalez and her daughters, this is their first time attending and participating in the parade.

For others this isn’t their first time.  In 2008 Terry Nielson’s wife went into labor as they were going to the parade route.  On Monday, Nielson and his son Cole rode in the parade on a tandem bike both dressed as Uncle Sam.  Their bike won them one of the $10 prizes for best decorated bike.

Long Beach police Deputy Chief Robert Luna said parents should remind their children about the holiday's significance.

“It’s to celebrate the dream our forefathers had about what they wanted this country to be.  The want, will, and hopes of the people.”

Young Wesly Hicks expressed the same seniment, once reminded by his mother about the holiday's history.

“Happy Birthday America, I love this place,” Wesly said.