Got Bikes?...Ride 'em! - Part 5

Well I missed my typical Lakemont ride, but it was for a great cause. Today was the 5th installment of the Got Bikes?...Ride 'em! program. We met at the Dr. James R. Smith Center, with Commissioner Samuel B. Ings, during the Kid's Health Fair & Field Day. There were a few hundred kids there to participate in multiple events and learn about proper exercise and diet. The day included an Easter Egg Hunt, live music, food, "bouncy houses", and then different "stations" for the events similar to ours.

Our program was set up differently today, in that we didn't have a PowerPoint presentation and held everything outside, and we let the kids actually ride bikes. We set up an obstacle course and let the children take turns putting on helmets properly, the ABCs of checking out their bikes, correct bike signals at stops and intersections, and finally riding the bikes we had brought. After they had completed the course, they were given a raffle ticket for one of the six bikes and helmets we gave away.

As usual, the children had fun winning the bikes, but today was also cool to see them ride bikes and learn about proper riding techniques. It makes it all worth while when you can see kids retain things that you are telling them, they look at the bikes for the giveaway and you know they don't have a bike of their own, and then their number gets called out at the end of the day and they explode with happiness in being one of the winners. It felt like Christmas, but on a bright spring day!