Use these simple strategies to develop a lasting love for bike riding as both recreation and transportation. —Wendy Booher  Photo: D. Sharon Pruitt Love the Bike
You can start with young children by fostering their sense of pride in
their bikes. Let them personalize bicycles with paint, stickers,
rhinestones, glitter, or even beach glass scavenged from a day at the shore.  Photo: rittyrats on Flickr Create a Fun Challenge
Choose a car-free zone where kids can have the experience of riding independently,
like a backyard, playground, open basketball court, or even an empty
parking lot. Then, create an obstacle course with miniature traffic
cones, ramps, and natural obstacles like rocks and logs. Clearing the
obstacles will help them improve balance and bike handling, and the
focus will be on their accomplishments instead of riding their bikes.
Invite other children and their parents to play on your obstacle course
and encourage the kids to design their own.  Photo: conbon33 on Flickr Kiddie Commute
Plan an outing by bike. It could be as simple as riding over to a friend's house or pedaling to the local coffee shop
for a snack. Check with your local zoo or theme park to see if they
allow bicycles on their grounds and bring along the bike instead of the
stroller. If your city or town promotes bike-friendly events like
Ciclovias, Sunday Streets, or Healthy Saturdays, take advantage of those
to experience a different riding environment and strengthen the message
that your community moves by bike and not just car.  Photo: gemsling on Flickr Bring Biking Indoors
Rainy days provide cycling opportunities too. Indoor activities like
reading have cycling built in with books like the classic "Curious
George Rides a Bike." Use snack time
and a toy bike to design an "edible obstacle course" using raisins for
rocks, carrots for logs, and sliced cheese or fruit leather to build
ramps and jumps. There's also nothing wrong with using art supplies to
build a miniature bike park where children can practice in theory what
they'll want to try later in reality.  Bicycle School
Bicycle and pedestrian safety education courses, as well as youth
bike-riding clubs and bike-safety rodeos, have been around for years,
and schools that offer courses in the spring and fall help put
school-age children in charge of their own mobility. If your child's
school doesn't already offer bicycle safety education, why not learn how
to become an instructor? Riding together in cycling "school buses" are
another way for secondary school children to engage in riding a bike
safely while at the same time promoting the bike as fun transportation. Source: bicycling.com Related articles: Biking to School - The Land Where Kids Ride Bike To School Challenge, Rocky River Ohio The Top 10 Ways to Encourage Bicycling Among College Students Bike to work in Herzliya, summary of October 2013 events רוכבים לעבודה בהרצליה, סיכום ארועי אוקטובר 2013 עיריית הרצליה חנכה את שבילי האופניים בטיול לכל המשפחה |
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