The sunny, blue and warm sky of the past week gave way to a cold, grey blanket for Sustainable Claremont's first Bike Rodeo. Fortunately, the predicted rain held off (for the most part) until the afternoon. Not that it mattered all that much, I mean for those kids (and maybe some of the parents), bikes and rain is a near perfect combination. The only question was, would three hours be enough time? In an effort to spread things out a bit, keep it from becoming too crowded participants were, I believe, assigned times to show up. I can guarantee some of those young un's, if not the older un's as well, were having so much fun that they would have spent the rodeo's entire three hours riding around, and then wanted more. I watched one neighbor kid ride through the course twice and then set off to circle the track for more. That seemed to be the norm, not the exception.
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| got myself a cool spoke card. Julie Medero made three different designs - Sustainable Claremont Bike Rodeo |
All kinds of kids, from elementary school to middle school, came out on this chilly morning to test their bike handling skills, and perhaps learn some new ones. Though the rodeo may have been geared most toward the younger crowd, I noticed more than a few adults testing their agility around the various skill courses as well. In addition to learning safe riding techniques and putting them to practice, there were a couple art tables set up, a raffle with a great selection of prizes, Jax bike shop had a crew assisting people with little maintenance issues, and giving a little tube changing demonstration. Meanwhile Paul and Ross had a table set up to spread the word about the new cyclist and pedestrian advocacy group - Claremont Streets for People.
I have become used to seeing Jennifer Stark at events such as this, she has long been a great supporter of community-driven initiatives; today she was joined by a second city council member - Corey Calacay. Terrific to see their continued involvement. Both Maria Tipping (city staff), as well as her husband, a coach with the High School Mountain Bike Team, and Hilary LaConte, former, and newly reappointed member of the CUSD Board of Education, took an active interest in the proceedings. Though Hilary may have left with one less ear (Tamera having talked one of them off while voicing her education concerns) I enjoyed the few moments catching up with each of them.
Considering the chill in the morning air, and the ever-present threat of rain, I had kind of resigned myself (and maybe a few others had as well) to be disappointed by the turnout. Those worries turned out to be for naught, and Julie Medero and everyone from Sustainable Claremont who volunteered their morning and early afternoon, should feel greatly satisfied with the success of this, their first Bike Rodeo. Congratulations.
Local businesses and organizations should also be recognized for their contributions - Jax Bicycle Center, who you are all familiar with, Boon Companion - Claremont's long established independent toy shop, the Claremont Sunrise Rotary, and Sycamore Elementary School.
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