Bike First! (Portland)June 19, 2017 N/A
Register Now for Bike Week 2017
Make 2017 the year your child learns to ride a bicycle! Registration is open for Bike Week, which will take place June 19th thru June 23rd. Register for the full bike camp, or sign your child up for the Quick Start or Refresher Course.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to snow days, Bike Camp may conflict with school in your district. If that is the case, choose session #1 or #5 to avoid scheduling conflicts.
It’s important to emphasize that this program is built around the premise that children will learn the skills necessary to ride a traditional two wheel bicycle. This goal is obviously predicated on the assumption that children are skilled and comfortable with steering, pedaling and keeping their eyes forward. A few students learn all these things during Bike Week, but success is most likely when campers arrive with these fundamental pre-skills.
The nature of Bike Week necessitates that the child must be:
- Ambulatory
- Able to keep their feet on the pedals and maintain pedaling
- Able to keep their hands on the handlebars and turn
- Able to see sufficiently to avoid obstacles and maintain a path of travel
- Willing to follow instructions and motivated to learn to ride
- Willing to wear a helmet
- Under 180 pounds (weight restriction for our bikes)
Our experience has shown that behavioral considerations are extremely important—children may be physically able to ride, but if they cannot be persuaded to get on the bike and follow our instructions, they may not succeed. We have also found that children 8 and older tend to do better than younger children, but even more important is how motivated each child is to learn. There is no maximum age level.
Bike Week is a big commitment on everyone’s part, and though our goal is to have fun, we take our commitment very seriously. Volunteers put in many hours and there is always a waiting list, so being on time is critical and attendance for the full week is mandatory.
If you or your child cannot commit to a full week of conscientious participation, please bypass this program for now and wait until you’re ready.