| News - Friday, January 16, 2009
Cyclists to ride in budget protest
by Casey Weiss
While they continue to wait for news from Sacramento about state budget cuts, local leaders are planning a community bike ride to protest any slashes that would affect children.
The ride will start at the El Camino YMCA on Grant Road on Sunday, May 3, and cover 27 miles through Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Los Altos — all in an effort to bring light to children's rights, including the need for health and educational initiatives.
"This will bring attention to the state that awareness needs to be on the kids," said YMCA sports director Trenton Hill, who is working with the Community Health Awareness Council to plan the event.
The protest ride is becoming an annual tradition among Mountain View community leaders. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first announced potential cuts to education last spring, Mountain View Whisman School District Superintendent Maurice Ghysels, former CHAC board president Bruce Barsi and parent Nelson Iwai biked the 126 miles to Sacramento.
With California facing a multi-billion-dollar deficit through June 2010, local leaders want to plan something bigger that involves more of the community. District administrators say all educational programs are once again on the table now that the elementary and Mountain View-Los Altos High School districts are facing more than $1 million each in cuts.
Bikers will begin at the YMCA at 9 a.m. and head to the west side of Sunnyvale. The three-hour ride will eventually end back at the YMCA for the annual kid's health fair, which goes until 2 p.m.
Local community leaders have been planning the May ride during their monthly Challenge Team meeting, and are encouraging families and children to participate, if only for a short time. Parent-teacher councils from local schools will set up frequent stops for food and drink.
"We are doing as much as we can to get as many people and schools involved, so we can have the biggest impact," Hill said. •
E-mail Casey Weiss at cweiss@mv-voice.com | 
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