Coach Tubbs, you better watch out, I AM A BMX RACER – Linden, Grade 3, South Meridian Elementary
Cycling BC’s iRide program had a busy week last week and coached 9 in-school programs and 1 after-school program for a total of 1150 students. iRide’s full bike fleets attended events in Vancouver and Victoria with partial fleets in Comox and Cranbrook. Events took place at TM Roberts & Highlands in Cranbrook, Giant’s Head in Penticton, South Meridian and Bonaccord in Surrey, Renfrew in Vancouver, Ecole Des Mondes in Como, and Lake Hill and Rogers in Victoria. iRide’s community-based after-school event in Lynn Valley also wrapped up with a final day of fun and skills at Kirkstone Park. The iRide team has coached over 4800 students this spring.
The Cranbrook iRide team is now halfway through its five-school campaign leading up to the local youth GranFondo on May 29th. Coach Tim Fix reports:
Coach John and I enjoyed another week of iRide with events at TM Roberts and Highlands. We were also joined by the school district’s police officer, Const. Katie who also took the NCCP course with us in April. All in all, we worked with 220 kids from school district 5, a great accomplishment and testament to how much enthusiasm there is for iRide here after only just speaking with the schools during March break. Each of the classes had 3 sessions where the kids learned a selection of balancing and close quarter techniques plus some basic bicycling skills. It was exciting to see how much the kids enjoyed the classes, and how quickly they caught on to the skills. The kids really appreciated this chance to learn. I’m looking forward to a few more weeks of hard work before the region’s youth GranFondo where we hope to attract some of the iRide participants as a follow-up event.
The Vancouver iRide team of Coach Tubbs (Wes Ochitwa), Anna Banana (Anna Bradford) and Trix (Carsinn Wilson) visited South Meridian Elementary in Surrey and Renfrew Elementary in Vancouver: Wes reports:
Yet again iRide has discovered gold! What an amazing school! Last week I spent 3 days at South Meridian Elementary in South Surrey, very near to the quickly-growing Surrey Off-Road Cycling Enthusiasts (SORCE) biking group. Coach Colby Johnson and I worked with a full spectrum of Gr.1’s-7’s, pushing us to use all of the tricks in the book! We also used every tool in the bag, literally…3 different sizes and 5 different colors of cones, ropes for straight and squiggly line riding and games, stunts, frisbees. The school grounds was covered in a variety of stations and enjoyed the wide variety of concrete paths, gravel trails, a natural grass halfpipe and a thick forest section with large cedar trees. When we played the games on the final day, the students enjoyed some role-playing with a Harry Potter-themed event in the cedar forest area. It was a fun week and I look forward to visiting this school again soon.
The Comox iRide team visited Ecole de Deux Mondes, for a 1st year program. Coach Lauren reports:
As a small school with grades K-5, Ecole de Deux Mondes (EDM) was keen to have the iRide program made available to all of their students, even those not yet riding independently on 2 wheels. Although the iRide program doesn’t normally do this, the school provided extra helpers for the younger riders so Lynda and I dug out some new games for this week. Sticking to the asphalt, the little rippers on training wheels and run bikes were jazzed just to be out on their bikes learning about how to stay safe and have fun on their bike. Even starting with the basics like practicing to safely start and stop through a Red Light-Green Light, the students had a blast. The young students progressed quickly working on skills like tight turns by “riding the rainbow” and “surviving the snake” and of course shark island. The older grades flew through the basics quickly and were thrilled to see their straight line riding skills come into play while riding the teeter totters. We had a few parents out to watch the session and after watching the kids cruise over the teeter totters, said how amazing it is “to see what these young kids can accomplish, so quickly, on their bikes.” Lynda and I will be finishing up our EDM sessions next week with an obstacle course for all grades.
Anna & Carsinn report:
Carsinn and I started our week at Bonaccord Elementary out in Surrey. The kids were super excited to have us back after a successful first session the previous week. With two coaches we were able to split the classes introducing them to stunts as well as going on long perimeter rides around the grounds, practicing shifting gears and riding in a group.
On Tuesday we were warmly welcomed at Renfrew Elementary. It was a very rewarding school to spend the week at with many of the students experiencing group cycling for the first time. For those students who were just learning, it was so awesome to see all their classmates cheering them on and looking out for them as they improved over the week. By the final day, most of the hesitant riders had built up their confidence and began riding with the group! The school grounds were big and open and we were able to take full advantage of them by introducing the kids to grass descents and signalling during long perimeter rides. We were extremely lucky with clear skies all week and hot temperatures and successfully wrapped up our last session with a big obstacle course and fun games including shark island and hip hop zombie!
Overheard at recess in the hallway, one student (Hanna) to her friend “iRide was so fun today, you got to play a game with music and do awesome tricks, I think it was even more fun than my soccer practice usually is!”
iRide Jams are now open for registration. These 1-day events provide communities with a chance to experience iRide and engage with parents. Our iRide program is designed to inspire local parents to develop their own iRide Advance program in their neighborhood and these events are run to illustrate how it can work.
iRide @ North Vancouver’s MEC BikeFest: May 28th – learn more here
iRide Jam @ West Vancouver’s Ambleside Community Day: June 4th – learn more here
iRide is also currently accepting bookings for the 2016-2017 autumn session. To learn more, please visit the iRide page here. To become an iRide newsletter recipient and stay up-to-date on all future iRide events in your area, please go here. If you’re a fan of Cycling BC’s iRide program, check us out on Twitter, Instagram, or Donate to support our programs in your area. To learn more about booking a future event, please contact us at iRide@cyclingbc.net or 1-604-BC-iRide.
