Professional cyclists Neilson Powless and Coryn Labecki will lead a 25-mile community ride at 8:15 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 before joining students at EF Academy Pasadena for a family-oriented youth bicycle assembly project at 10:30 a.m.
The initiative at LA’s newest private day and boarding school combines their environmental sustainability program with community outreach, culminating in the donation of 25 bicycles to the Pasadena Recreation Center.
Powless, the first Native American to compete in the Tour de France and recent Gran Piemonte winner, will participate alongside Labecki, whose achievements include Olympic Games appearances, World Championships, and over 70 national titles.
“At EF Academy, our students are part of something truly unique,” said Sally Mingarelli, Head of School at EF Academy Pasadena. “Through our connection with the global network of EF Education First, including the EF Pro Cycling team, our students have access to experiences that extend beyond the classroom.”
The event emerged from the school’s Innovation and Impact program, where students from over 30 countries align projects with United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, following their successful campus bicycle share initiative.
Last year, students launched the bike share program by repurposing broken and unused bicycles for eco-friendly campus transportation, with new students continuing the initiative after the original team’s 2023 graduation.
“We are deeply grateful to EF Academy for their generous bike donation,” said Koko Panossian, Director of Pasadena’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. “It’s incredible to see both local and international students, who have come to call Pasadena their home, give back to the community in such a meaningful way.”
To sign up, visit the EF Academy’s events page, https://www.efacademy.org/en/event/?id=6574.
The event will be at EF Academy’s campus at 1505 E. Howard Street in Pasadena.
EF Education First, with its global workforce of 52,000, owns both the men’s EF Education-EasyPost team and the newly launched women’s EF-Oatly-Cannondale team, featured in Netflix’s “Tour de France: Unchained” series.
