By Cpl. Darin Underhill, Barriere RCMP
On June 28 the 4th Annual Barriere Bike Rodeo was held at the Barriere Seniors Centre.
During the event there was also a child seat fitting station that was run by Success by Six. This is a great service to check and make sure your child’s car seat is properly installed for their safety.
It was a beautiful day with temperatures reaching the high 30’s! We got started at 11a.m., with a good group waiting to get started on the course.
The children were put through four stations this year with a little change. The first station saw them ride in a straight line, trying to stay within the narrow path, teaching them to ride with their head up and keep their momentum going.
The second station was negotiating eight cones in a serpentine motion and returning without crashing into a cone or going off course. This taught the kids to again keep their head up, plan their course and avoid objects coming up to them.
The third station was the figure eight where riders had to stay within the lines and complete two circles, exiting the same spot they came in. This teaches the kids negotiating a curve, which involves leaning your bicycle into the corner to be more effective and also planning and maintaining your path.
The last station was changed from a pretend intersection to a bike safety questionaire. This put the kids through a number of safety and road user type questions such as; what side of the road should you be on?, should you look both ways when crossing the road?, should you ride across a busy roadway or intersection?, display hand signals for left and right turns and stopping, street signs for stopping and yield.
The kids did very well on the course, were very knowledgeable on their road safety and had fun in the sun! Each participant received a new water bottle, a bouncy ball and a ticket for the draw prizes.
At the end of the event everyone met over at the Bandshell in Fadear Park where the Royal Canadian Legion was putting on face painting, music and a great barbecue for everyone there.
We had 47 participants this year, a great number for the incredibly hot weather! There were a total of 48 prizes handed out so all got an extra prize.
The new car seat with five point harness went to the parent that participated in the child seat fitting station. There were eight brand new bicycles with a local girl winning the $500 CCM Mountain bike on her birthday, congratulations!
There were eight new bicycles given out, as well as 29 brand new bike helmets, bike locks, skipping ropes with Brita water bottles and the pool toy/goggle combo’s.
I would like to thank our financial sponsors; Success by Six, District of Barriere, Royal Canadian Legion, Barriere Smoke Eaters, IDA and the Underhill family. I would also like to thank Robert, Cory, Jesse, Heather, Mark, Ashley and her sister for all their help during the event.
I am looking forward to next year, same time and same place....hopefully a little cooler. We will be planning on a couple of fun additions to the Barriere Bike Rodeo next year to add to the course – so stay tuned.
Thanks to all kids and parents for coming down to make it another success and a fun day. Have a great summer!