Kaleidospoke GLOW bike ride event is a go amid COVID-19
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Parks and Recreation is hosting its Kaleidospoke GLOW bike ride event on Saturday evening with many COVID-19 precautions in place.
The event will start at Flat Branch Park at dusk where participants will bike to Twin Lake Recreation Area and back for an approximately 8-mile round trip ride.
While at Twin Lakes, s'mores will be provided by a bonfire with entertainment before heading back to Flat Branch Park.
The event was scheduled to be held on Friday and Saturday but was canceled on Friday due to weather.
The Columbia/Boone County Health Department limits all large gatherings to 100 participants, thus registration is a requirement.
Events in Boone County must provide an Operational plan to show it will meet the minimum requirements of the order and then be approved by the health director prior to the event.
Stacey Kulik, a Parks and Rec Recreation Specialist said the health department wanted to make some changes to the original plan that was submitted.
"One change is we will not have the bubble man," Kulik said. "And the only entertainment we will have is glow spinning from Clashing Patterns.
The event plans to have many precautions in place, such as bike racks at least ten feet apart, s'mores provided in individual baggies, bonfires with at least 20 feet in between each, and more. Masks are required when bikers are not riding.
Participants will come and go throughout the event, so all participants are not in one place at one time.
Entertainment will be greatly reduced and there will be no live band.
“In our normal event we have a stage we have live music," said Gabe Huffington, Parks and Rec Parks Service Manager. "We've had different single acts and different groups come in and perform for us. And that was one thing that would create a congregating point, so they just asked if that's something that we couldn't have to do this year."
One rider said this event is all about making memories for her and her family.
“We've done it a lot in the past," Elizabeth Goebel, Kaleidospoke bike rider said. "So when we found out that they were going to have the event we thought it would be a fun thing to do since we haven't been able to do a lot of special things lately. So it was just a way to continue a family tradition.”
Goebel said even though this year’s event looked a bit different her family was ready to keep the tradition alive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We're always evaluating every decision that we're making right now," Goebel said. "But especially since it was outdoors and we knew that they were going to make extra precautions and they were limiting the numbers we felt like it was a safe enough chance for us to take.”
