Below are the requirements I completed for the Cycling Badge
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Complete Two 10-Mile Bike Rides: This was the first of the two, a neighborhood ride. 11/27/2019 |
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Complete Two 10-Mile Bike Rides: This was the second of the two, West Fork Day Use Trailhead to Cogswell Dam. 1/19/2020 |
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| Complete Two 15-Mile Bike Rides: This was the first of the two. Peck Road Park to the location shown on the map.
11/17/2019 |
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| Complete Two 15-Mile Bike Rides: This was the second of the two. Playa Del Ray to Syd Kronenthal Park.
1/18/2020 |
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Complete Two 25-Mile Bike Rides: This was the first of the two. Biking the San Gabriel Trail. 11/29/2019 |
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Complete Two 25-Mile Bike Rides: This was the second of the two. Fletcher Park to Bob’s Big Boy and back. 12/07/2019 |
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“Lay out on a road map a 50-mile trip. Stay away from main highways. Using your map, make this ride in eight hours.” I did Torrance Beach to the Annenberg Community Beach House, with a 14 mi. detour. 12/21/2019 |
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| “Clean and adjust a bicycle up to local laws using a manual.” I did this for 3 bikes, including assembly.
10/31/2019 |
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| Show how to repair a flat completely.
1/16/2020 |
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| After completing the Road Biking requirements, we decided to also complete the Mountain Biking requirements. Only one of the two was required for the badge, but we decided to do both. | ||
| Complete Two 2-Mile Bike Rides on Dirt Trails: This was the first ride, Hannah Flats Loop near Big Bear Lake. We were going to do an 8-mile ride, but the trail and our backup trail (actually ALL trails, even paved ones) were closed due to California fires. So we were only able to do 2 miles, the dirt road to the main trailhead.
9/12/2020 |
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| Complete Two 2-Mile Bike Rides on Dirt Trails: This was the second ride, 5 miles starting on the Cobal Canyon trail and finishing on the Johnson Pasture Road to create a loop.
2/26/2021 |
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| Complete Two 8-Mile Bike Rides on Dirt Trails: This was the first ride, on the same trail as the first 2-Mile trip. This time the trail wasn’t closed and we could continue on to the REAL mountain biking experience. I liked the downhills of mountain biking more than the road biking, but going up hills with my bike was brutal, even when I was only walking! In the end, we covered our 8 miles in the loop and finished just before dark.
10/23/2020 |
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| Complete Two 8-Mile Bike Rides on Dirt Trails: This was the second ride, biking the Cherry Canyon Loop. This trail started out uphill, and there were some huge stretches where we had to walk our bikes. It also had 2 huge hills that we had to do, and on the second one I wiped out. Luckily I just had a bad scrape on my hand. We barely made it back before it became totally dark.
1/9/2021 |
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| Complete One 22-Mile Bike Ride on Dirt Trails Within 6 Hours: We rode around Diamond Valley Lake, the only 22-mile mountain biking trail by Los Angeles that we considered possible for this requirement. We got there and were ready by 12:30, but then we found out that we only had 4 hours to complete the ride because the parking lot closed at 4:15. This ride ended up being very difficult to complete within 4 hours, it was nonstop biking up until the very end.
2/5/2021 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #1 – 31 miles. We biked along the PET trail through Rancho Cucamonga for 31 miles. We started out going west, then completed the east side of the trail.
4/24/2021 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #2 – 10 miles. We returned to the PET trail through Rancho Cucamonga and this time only biked the east side. We biked this trail with a few friends, which made it especially fun! We started around 5, and brought our headlamps so we could bike back in the dark.
10/22/2021 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #3 – 25 miles. We biked from El Segundo to Malibu and back along the beach. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky to have the wind at our backs for the return ride. We biked until the path ended, ate a small meal, then turned around. On the way back, we got to see an Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron up close (15 feet away).
2/4/2022 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #4 – 14 miles. We biked along the beach north and south of Bolsa Chica. This was our windiest ride ever, and we started biking north against the wind. After we biked about 2.5 miles, we turned around and had a much easier time with the wind at our backs. We then continued beyond our car for 4.5 miles with the wind behind us. Of course, the return trip against the wind was much harder.
3/5/2022 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #5 – 20 miles. We returned to the same pier that we reached 2 weeks ago. We continued biking South a little beyond the Newport Pier for my Birthday Bike Ride! We ended up biking 10 miles each way and realized just how much easier biking is without insane winds.
3/18/2022 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #6 – 22 miles. We biked the San Gabriel River Bike Trail for about 10 miles each way. We started at the Pio Pico Park and biked along the trail for a while. At about 2 hours in we took a break in a park and had some snacks. Then, we turned around and made much better time on our return trip, because the wind was at our backs.
4/15/2022 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #7 – 10 miles. This time, we chose to bike around our neighborhood, starting North and biking in a circular path, at one point passing the Huntington Gardens entrance. We then turned left and took an assortment of smaller streets to get back home.
6/2/2022 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #8 – 19 miles. This time, we biked along the beach. Near the beginning of our journey, we stopped to eat fish and chips, then continued on to the nearby pier. We turned around after about 10 miles, and the trip back was very fast with the wind at our backs.
11/22/2023 |
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| Extra Credit Bike Ride #9 – 28 miles. For this bike ride, we started near our house and then biked about 10 miles to Long Beach, then ate fish and chips while there. After that, we biked back and made a total of 28 miles!
5/18/2024 |
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ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS COMPLETED
In addition to the above, I also researched all the following areas and then completed a verbal presentation/interview to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding for each of them:
- Explain the most likely hazards you may encounter cycling activities and how to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
- Demonstrate first aid for cuts, scratches, blisters, sunburn, heat/cold, dehydration, insects, ticks, and snakes. Identify poisonous plants in your area.
- Explain the importance of a properly fitted helmet and good clothes while cycling.
- Show your counselor your bike. Point out adjustments you have made and parts that need regular maintenance and how to adjust brakes, seat level and height, and steering tube.
- Describe how to brake with hand OR foot brakes.
- Describe local laws and compare them to driving laws.
- Take a road test that includes mounting, pedaling, braking, and emergency stops.
- On an urban street with light traffic, properly execute a left turn from the center of the street; also demonstrate an alternate left-turn technique used during periods of heavy traffic. Also complete a right turn.
- Demonstrate appropriate actions at a right-turn-only lane when you are continuing straight.
- Show proper curbside and road-edge riding. Show how to ride safely along a row of parked cars.
- Show how to cross railroad tracks properly.
- In order to complete this badge, I need to bike a total of 150 miles or bike 42 miles on dirt trails. I have now biked 280/150 street miles and 42/42 mountain miles and completed this badge twice.