“Good exercise; it’s healthy; fun with my family; bike rides with my friends; and “freedom” are just a few of the reasons young Cranbrook children ride their bikes. Those are some of the answers given when iRide coaches ask Grade 4 students why they ride their bikes.

The Sunrise Rotary Club of Cranbrook hosts the annual Kootenay Rockies Gran Fondo and Kootenay Kids’ Fondo. They contacted Cycling BC to explore more cycling opportunities for school children with a focus on skills and safety. The iRide Program was a perfect fit.

The cycling skills program was introduced this spring in Cranbrook and Jaffray and has been well received by students and teachers at local elementary schools. The program consists of three sessions per class and is coordinated and instructed by local coaches and volunteers. Coaches were trained through Cycling BC’s NCCP certification clinic.

Positive feedback from the students after completing the program:

Before iRide I rode my bike a little and now I feel safer. I want to try riding my bike every day.

iRide Rocks. Now I know how to ride my bike without training wheels.

I hope iRide can come back next year

Biking is awesome

I love biking!

Before iRide I rode my bike a lot and now I feel more confident I want to ride the trail more.

Now I feel safer. I want to try to ride on more local trails.

Bikes are the BEST! I want to ride my bike more to become even better at riding my bike.

So much fun. It’s awesome.

Now I want to ride more in the mountains

Participating Schools to date include:

St Mary’s

Kootenay Christian Academy

TM Roberts

Highlands

Jaffray

The program continues through May and into June at more Cranbrook Schools.

Lead image from Cycling BC

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