100 Bicyclists Pedal to Benefit a Good Cause

More than 100 Ventura County bicyclists crawled out of bed early Sunday morning to pedal for a cause: the Third Annual Great American Tour de Heart in Moorpark.

“It was worth it to get up for this,” Julie Johnson of Port Hueneme said. “What’s a few extra hours of sleep when you have the chance to do something good?”

The cyclists gathered at Moorpark College where they munched on grapes and bananas and collected T-shirts provided by the Moorpark/Simi Valley branch of the American Heart Assn., which held the event.

Munching completed, Johnson loaded her 5-year-old son, Shane, into a yellow child carrier on the back of her Schwinn and took off on the 10-mile family ride.

Pedaling furiously, 8-year-old daughter Amy followed closely behind.

“It’s our first bike event,” said Johnson, who persuaded her father, Ernie Lowder, 55, to drive from Corona for the tour. “We came because it’s something the whole family can enjoy.”

It is not unusual to see entire families participating in the tour, organizer and Heart Assn. board member Don Otto said. Participants chose between the family ride, a 25-mile intermediate trip and a 50-mile advanced tour.

“We’ve got young people, old people, families, you name it,” Otto said. “Everybody wants to help out.”

The American Heart Assn. is a national nonprofit organization that raises funds to help control and prevent cardiovascular disease and strokes.

The tour raised more than $5,000, bringing the branch “very close” to its annual fund-raising goal of $50,000 by the end of June, Otto said.