Eight years ago, retired professional mountain-bike racer and physical therapist Nancy Busching was thinking Big Thoughts about her children, exercise, and the dangers associated with their riding bicycles in local neighborhoods. She contacted Safe Routes to School, an international program that helps to make walking and bicycling safer and more accessible for kids. It also enhances health and well-being, eases traffic congestion, and improves air quality.
With a $178,000 grant from the Safe Routes program, Nancy partnered with Meadowbrook School and used the grant to pay for curb cut-outs, fitness education, signage, equipment, bikes for kids who don’t have one, and an annual Bike Rodeo.
The one-day event starts when kids—and their parents, if they want—ride to school, and then each class gets an hour to participate during its PE class.
The team at Black Hills Family joined in this year!
Read about it here.
4 STATIONS
- Mechanics from Rapid City bike shops, plus parents, check student bikes.
- Rapid City Regional Hospital conducts helmet-fit checks—and provides free helmets for children who don’t have one, through the “Don’t Thump Your Melon” head injury prevention program.
- Kids ride through a bike-handling course, including a circle with ramps, a figure-eight, and a cone obstacle course.
- Kids put bikes away and “cool down” with water and bananas.
Meadowbrook’s Rodeo is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 5, but any school can start one. Check saferoutesinfo.org for more information on how to make riding safe and healthy in your neighborhood!