Bored kids? Break out the bike
Schools may not be open yet, but the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition is offering in-person on-bike lessons this Winter & Spring for both kids and parents! Get outdoors, build skills, and gain the confidence to enjoy cycling for transportation and recreation.
The Bicycle Coalition’s Safe Routes to School Program has partnered with the Parks & Recreation Programs in the Town of Windsor, City of Petaluma, and City of Santa Rosa to offer on-bicycle person lessons every week. Lessons offered on Wednesdays in Windsor and Thursdays in Petaluma. Santa Rosa lessons will take place on Fridays beginning in late February. All lessons are a low cost of $5.00 per participant, and registration is through each of the city park & recreation department websites (see links below)
The in-person, on-bike series includes the following lessons:
- Learn to Ride a Bicycle for Kids
- Bicycle Skill Building – Kids only
- Family Bicycling 1 – Bicycle Skill Building for Parents and Kids
- Family Bicycling 2: Instructional Neighborhood Ride for Parents & Kids
- Teen Independent Bicycling Workshop & Ride
Registration links
City of Santa Rosa Registration
For those who are unable to attend our in-person lessons, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition also offers a series of FREE, Virtual Family Bicycling Workshops via Zoom. The Virtual series includes Intro to Family Bicycling, Street Skills for Parents, Bicycle Maintenance for Families, and Route Planning and Great Sonoma County Family Rides. For more information and to register for a virtual workshop, visit www.bikesonoma.org/family-bike-workshops
This project is funded in part by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s One Bay Area Grant and Spare the Air Youth Programs, and the Measure M Transportation tax.
About the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition
The Bicycle Coalition is a nonprofit working to make Sonoma County a great place to ride a bike through advocacy and education.
About the Sonoma County Safe Routes to School Program
The goal of Safe Routes to School programs is to encourage walking and bicycling where it is safe, and to advocate for needed changes where biking or walking is not safe. SRTS programs use an integrated approach that includes five E's - encouragement, education, evaluation, engineering, and enforcement. SRTS programs address health and safety by reducing traffic congestion around schools, increasing physical activity, encouraging lifestyle changes for families, creating safer, calmer streets and neighborhoods, and improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority partner to implement this program.
For more information, contact Tina Panza at tinap@bikesonoma.org or call 707-799-3911.
What else is new with biking?
Don’t miss the Sonoma County Gazette’s new column Sonoma County on Two Wheels, written by Bridgette DeShields, ride director with the Santa Rosa Cycling Club. She can be reached at bridgettedeshields@sbcglobal.net.
