What You Need to Know About a Bike Rodeo
This is the time of year where we’re typically ramping up efforts to promote bike safety and education. Due to COVID-19, many of our spring and summer events have been canceled, as have many of our community partner’s events and programs. Like you, we’ve been learning to adapt to the new normal. While it’s easy to social distance while cycling, it’s not as easy to host events to teach bike safety and skills.That’s why we’re putting together a toolkit to help you help your kids, grandkids, neighbors, or friends (and yourself) learn more about the rules of the road and get more familiar with bike handling.
First off, what’s a bike rodeo? Essentially, a bike rodeo is just a mix of a skills, obstacle, and safety course designed to help kids learn more about those very things. A bike rodeo incorporates roadway components like stop signs, traffic signals, and crosswalks. It also teaches kids to get more comfortable on a bike by guiding them through a series a winding maneuvers, figure eights, and roadway/trail obstacles.
Secondly, why should you do this at home? Well, because (most) kids love to ride bikes – it’s an opportunity to be independent and find a little bit of freedom. So why not equip them with the tools they need to be safe and have fun!?
Lastly, how do you make it happen? It’s easy! The number one rule is to be creative and have fun. We’ve put together a list of items that will be helpful for creating your course, along with some visual examples of how you can create your course. There are also many other examples that can be found through an online search for bike rodeo courses.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- Driveway or Parking Lot
- Stop Sign (1)
- Traffic Signal (3) – one green, one yellow, one red
- Obstacles – cones, sticks, bricks or boxes
- Bicycle and preferably a helmet
What to Include in Your Course:
- Weaving – use cones or other objects to achieve this
- Figure 8
- Stop Signs and Traffic Signals
Use the buttons below to access sample materials, or just create your own at home! Watch our video to learn more about creating a DIY bike rodeo at home.