THUNDER BAY - Now that the weather is getting warmer and more people are venturing out for some fresh air and exercise, Safe Cycling Thunder Bay is still offering important lessons to keep both kids and adults safe on the roads this summer.
Normally at this time of year Safe Cycling Thunder Bay and EcoSuperior Environmental Programs host bike rodeos at schools across the city, and with schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons are going online.
“It’s a huge area for us,” said EcoSuperior program coordinator Caroline Cox. “About a third of our programming is cycling education for kids so we want to make sure we can still deliver that. We had a really unique opportunity to reach parents as well because so many families are doing home school together.”
According to Cox, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there were 33 classes and 825 students registered to take part in bike rodeos this spring.
“I spoke to the teachers and asked if there would be any interest in virtual bike rodeos,” she said. “We had some confirmations that this could be a really good fit for families and physical literacy was an area they could use more resources. So we worked to put together some virtual courses, the main one is the virtual bike rodeo.”
The Virtual Bike Rodeo will consist of a series of videos that families can follow together on making sure all equipment is safe, handling skills, shoulder checks, and signaling. A Virtual Learn to Ride instructional video is also available to help parents teach their children how to ride a bike.
Cox added one important aspect of the virtual bike rodeos is it allows them to reach not only kids, but parents as well, whose cycling education may have stopped right after learning how to ride a bike.
“We typically have a couple of parents who attend our bike rodeos as volunteers but we’ve never had an opportunity to reach parents en mass like we do with the virtual bike rodeos,” she said. “Homeschooling offers us this awesome opportunity to teach the skills not only to the kids but also to the parents.”
And with many recreational activities closed or suspended due to the pandemic, more and more people are getting out on bikes this year, which is why proper training is more important than ever.
“It’s really important that all of these folks who are hitting the road more often or for the first time in several years have the skills they need to ride and stay safe,” Cox said.
Safe Cycling Thunder Bay is also offering virtual tours on its website for cycling in various neighbourhoods around the city.
It will also be looking at the possibility of holding smaller, in-person safe cycling courses this summer if restrictions are lifted, but the majority of courses, including the 55-plus safe cycling course, will be virtual.
The Virtual Bike Rodeo, Virtual Learn to Ride, and Virtual Cycling Tour videos are available on the Safe Cycling Thunder Bay website.
