Spoked: The Third Annual CSUN BikeFest succeeded in getting the community together

Yan Searcy, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, (CSBS) admits that he tends to dream big. So when he started planning a bicycle festival on campus, his goals were, well, lofty: “I tend to think of ways we can decrease the distance between the University and the communities that surround it. BikeFest seemed like the perfect way to do that.”  

This year’s CSUN BikeFest on November 3 drew hundreds to campus and offered cycling instruction, live music, food trucks, a variety of vendors and giveaways. Kids enjoyed face painting and balloon art and Bikes and Hikes of LA offered city cruisers and electric bikes for rent. “We had an outdoor stationary cycling class, a campus fun ride, a 30-mile ride and a 20-mile ride with support trucks,” says Searcy.

“During the pandemic, I got introduced to cycling by one of the CSUN faculty members, and for me it just took off,” Searcy recalls. “It was great for physical health, of course, but I also saw the positive impact on mental health, and I wanted to spread that positivity. That’s where the idea was essentially born.”  Searcy also was inspired by the local CicLAvia events, so he reached out to CicLAvia organizers and the Los Angeles cycling community, and dug in. “They were all very supportive in sharing how they are able to do the event, and how to get businesses involved. Dean Mechelle Best, of the College of Health and Human Development, was quite supportive, too, and the department chipped in to help. The event is also in alignment with the CSBS’s Institute for Sustainability.”

So did this BikeFest achieve Dean Searcy’s goals? “Well, I do dream big, and this year was bigger and better: We had more attending, we had more focus on youth engagement, and people definitely had a good time. Don Larson, founder of the Northridge Beautification Foundation, told me he had been wanting something like this for 50 years. That made me feel that the effort and outreach were worth it.”

Searcy has already gotten interest from local bike clubs for next year’s BikeFest, and he also is busy planning the Institute for Sustainability’s electric vehicle event for April 2025. Participants can test-drive and ride along in brands including Porsche, PoleStar, Ford, Lucid and Tesla.  

“I’d like to get more students involved in both events. I want people to recognize that CSUN is more than just a place to take classes, that there’s so much here and we can explore how the campus can partner with the community. Potentially we can model the best of what society produces.”

For more events and information, csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/college and sustainability@csun.edu.