A young girl named Lilliana, who lives behind Rosauers on the Heights of Hood River, was interested in biking to school, but was a little intimidated. A few weeks before Earth Day, she got a flier in her class telling her about the Bike Trains that would pick up in her neighborhood, with volunteer parents guiding kids to school at May Street Elementary and back each day, and she decided to try it out.
On Earth Day, she joined about 40 other kids from her neighborhood as they biked to school. More volunteer parents had the east entrance to May Street blocked off to cars, so all the kids walking and biking could arrive without having to worry. And that afternoon, when school let out, Mike’s Ice Cream had generously donated enough scoops to reward everyone who biked and walked to school that day, dished up by more parent volunteers.
That same evening, as the city was running the Heights Streetscape Open House at the Armory, local bike non-profit Anson’s Bike Buddies (www.ansonsbikebuddies.org) brought a trailer (thank you ERS for the free rental) full of tools and free bikes to the event, and set about repairing bikes for free, giving away seven bikes to people in need, and adding 11 more people to the list of those waiting for bikes. Besides kicking off Bike Month in style, the Ice Cream Social and the bike giveaways also highlight a different approach to environmental advocacy: “Letting the kids lead.”
Students who walked or rolled to school that day got a scoop of donated Mike’s Ice Cream.
Kyle Ramey photo
The approach is fairly simple. Kids see possibility, where adults often see obstacles and barriers, so you focus your efforts on kids. Just about every kid would like to ride a bike, as often as possible, so it’s an easy sell. Kids are usually not yet settled into routines of driving everywhere, no matter how close to home it is, simply because they always have. Most kids would love to ride to school, to get ice cream, to their friends’ houses. The goal then becomes getting as many kids onto bikes as you can, showing them how to ride safely, how much they’re capable of, and what freedom they can have.
For some kids, the obstacles are that they don’t yet know how to ride a bike. For others, they don’t have one, and their parents can’t easily afford one. Organizations like Anson’s Bike Buddies, which was started by a local boy and his parents about five years ago, fight that first problem by taking in hundreds of donated bikes every year, fixing them up, and giving them away to people in need. It may take a few weeks to get a bike in the right size, but the community of Hood River has been incredibly generous with its donations, so eventually they can find what is needed.
Riding in one of her five bikes every day, Megan Ramey had a show-n-tell with Mid Valley students. This is her cyclocross racing bike.
Kyle Ramey photo
In order to fight the second problem, I started a new program this school year in conjunction with the PE teachers at May Street and Mid Valley Elementary schools, which we’re calling Safety Rodeos. So far, 281 kindergartners and fifth graders learned bike riding skills, etiquette, and laws in these programs. I can tell you that there is almost nothing as rewarding as watching a kid learn how to ride a pedal bike for the first time. The program works.
The last big obstacle to people riding is the lack of safe infrastructure. If you don’t feel safe riding around your neighborhood, you’re not alone. But we have an opportunity to get the biking gold standard, a two-way cycletrack, on 12th Street in the Heights as part of the Urban Renewal Streetscape proposal.
PE Teacher Erich Harjo with Megan Ramey during the Safety Rodeo at May Street Elementary.
Kyle Ramey photo
It’s easy to get lost in obstacles, analysis, and general adult nonsense when thinking through these issues. But when you hear Lilliana, who now rides every single day with the Bike Train, say, “I love how strong my legs feel and how much fun it is to ride down hills!” … you know that kids on bikes is the right thing to aim for.
My plea: We have list of 50 kids who need bikes. Please donate your old bike to Anson’s Bike Buddies.
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Megan Ramey is a Mobility Safety Coordinator and a volunteer for Anson’s Bike Buddies. She can be contacted at megan@bikabout.com.
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