Hosting a Bike Rodeo:
Overview:
A Bike Rodeo can provide a great opportunity to host a
community goodwill event; it can serve not only the pack, but the neighborhood
in which it is done. At the end of the
bike rodeo, participants should have an increased appreciation and knowledge
about bike safety (Helmets and Bike Operations), a solid review of bike hand signals
and opportunity to improve their biking skills (Skills Course).
Preparation
- Determine the scope of who you would like to include. Is it only the pack? Or do you intend to sponsor a community event. BSA suggests it is a great recruitment activity.
- Reserve a safe place well in advance of the date. It is imperative that you obtain a location that you can block off traffic and ensure a safe environment for all in attendance. (When: As soon as you know the date)
- Solicit the help of local resources. Call local Police or Fire Department, unlike other BSA Derbies, every day children go to the ER having sustained a bicycle related injury. Many communities allocate resources to help avoid cycling related injuries. It is not uncommon to find a local police or fire department that may actually come out and help put on the Rodeo. (When: 6 to 8 weeks in advance. If a community resource is committing to assist in the event, be sure to call a few weeks in advance and the week thereof to make sure you are still on the calendar.)
- Solicit Help to run the Rodeo. Parents and the local Scout Troop could be very helpful. (When four weeks in advance, have assignments ready and be prepared to send out reminders)
- Create and send out invitations. (When: a couple weeks in advance, some families may need to fix a flat or two before the event). Remember to let them know that all family members are invited to bring their bikes and to wear appropriate gear.
- There are a number of ways to execute a Bike Rodeo but generally speaking a smooth way is to have everyone go through a bike sizing/ safety (mechanical) check, then meet together to go over biking safety rules, helmet sizing and usage. Lastly the participants are allowed to try various skills tests.
- In running this event we created a Stamp Card that gets filled out as the kids complete each section of the event at the end of the activity they can show their card and receive the certificate of completion.
As The Boys arrive
As the
boys and their families show provide them a quiz to test their biking
knowledge, Please see the links in the online resources to a quizzes that we found.
Also, Make sure each participant gets a stamp
card and understands what it for.
Bike Check
This is
an assignment that can be assigned to the Scouts, generally you will want to
have a couple of stations so that as families arrive they can get through all
of the participants. The Scouts may oil
the chains or potentially make quick brake adjustments, but the more important
thing is that they are doing a quick safety check on the bike and educating the
kids/parents. The check is not to discourage
participants, but to help educate them on their bikes. (See Online Resources for a Bike Safety
Checklist). You could print out the
sheet and have the scouts go through it quickly and give each rider the paper. (This should be communicated as to be part of
the Scouts assignment).
Safety Orientation
This section of the Bike Rodeo can
be done as a bigger group or parts of it may be broken up into stations. The fundamental point of this section is to encourage pest practices
when operating bicycles. We particularly
liked the Minnesota Safety Councils page on this. They break up the Safety section into a
number of components some of which include; Moving in Space, Ride-out and Roadway Entry, Intersections , Blind Driveways and others. In this short hand out it isn’t possible to go
through all the details, I would highly encourage a review of the Minnesota Safelty
Councils page, you can then best asses what
material and method of delivery work best for you and your pack.
In terms of delegation and assignments, if you find a local
police or fire department they may have material that covers this section
otherwise divide it into parent assignments. Remember, with cubs there is generally a
finite time window for giving them instructions so be prepared and try to make
the minutes count. Some sections could be made into a quick
game, for example bicycle hand signals could be changed into a quick game of Simon
says, but with bicycle hand signals.
Skills Course
Assign
this section to the Scouts they can divide up into smaller groups and simultaneously
run the Skills course. The link below is
a basic good skills course. You will
find the younger Scouts want to try to learn the details of the activities
while the older Scouts will try to prove they already know it all. At any rate they will all be entertained. Remember to assign the specific skills to
the Scouts ahead of time and line up Chalk and Cones for use on the
course. Lastly, the Scouts will need to have stickers to give
to each rider who “Does their best” on the Skills course.
Closing
Remember
to thank all of the Participants, Families, Any Guest Help and the Boy
Scouts. You may choose to end with a
standard closing ceremonies followed by awarding the certificates to all those
who participated. It may be easiest to
line them all up, provide a reminder about how much fun biking can be and to
always be safe.
Online Resources
Description
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Link
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Video on Bike Safety
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Rules of the road
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Basic Skills Challenge
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Minnesota Safety Council, a
number of good resources.
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fitting a Helmet.
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Hand Signals
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Certificate of Completion given to each youth who goes through the
rodeo.
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Quick Quiz Test the Boys
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Alternate Quiz (Minnesota Safety Council)
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Bike Safety Checklist.
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Bike Safety Checklist2
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