Health & Fitness
Elementary Bicycle Training Wraps Up Third Year
Trainers from Cycles of Change have been on campus at Ocean View and Marin Schools recently to teach 4th and 5th graders good bicycling safety.
Trainers from Cycles of Change have been on campus at Ocean View and Marin recently to teach 4th and 5th graders good bicycling safety.
The City of Albany sponsors the training, utilizing funds from a Safe Routes to Schools grant, and Alameda Safe Routes to Schools administers the program.
Each Albany elementary school has training every two years. Next year Cornell will have the training, and the following year Ocean View and Marin Schools again.
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In this way, almost every graduating 5th grader will have received bicycle training before entering middle school. The program started in the 2010-11 school year.
In the training, 4th and 5th graders get a classroom presentation on cycling safety and proper helmet wearing, then head for the playground for on-bike drills (see video).
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Students practice looking over their shoulder, signaling, and riding in a straight line. The course ends with on-street practice during a field trip to a local park, accompanied by the trainers and parent volunteers. Kids who have never ridden before have been known to come up-to-speed on their bike and join the field trip.
Many thanks to the City of Albany, Safe Routes to Schools, Cycles of Change, the parent volunteers, and to our teachers for fitting this program into the busy school year!
