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The April Junk Ride will
be held tonight Thursday, April 26th at
6pm. Meet at the garden near the
corner of 10th and Main in downtown GJ and get ready to ride your socks off to
celebrate spring.
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Take Life by the Handlebars
Grand Valley Bikes
(GVB) has been busy implementing Grand Junction’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
program in School District 51! The SRTS program creates
a sustainable culture of walking and bicycling at each school by increasing the
safety skill-set of students as well as incorporating parents and guardians to
monitor routes to school. Children in
physical education classes learn walking and bicycling road-safe skills
from GVB bicycle instructors and practice them in a bicycle rodeo
course that includes multi-colored cones, sidewalk chalk, helmets and a fleet
of bicycles. Our time at Tope and Rocky Mountain
Elementary this school year has been loads of fun and we are thankful to their
staff and students for being superb hosts. We are looking forward to celebrating Bike to
School Day with over 900 students at these schools on Wednesday, May 9. You should switch gears too and bike to
school (or accompany your children to their school)!
Then on March 22nd,
2012 the Colorado Transportation
Commission unanimously approved GVB’s second Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
project application for $30,365 to
expand this comprehensive wellness policy to three additional elementary schools; Chipeta, Dual Immersion Academy
and Fruitvale! The program fits well
into the system D51 currently uses with other mobile classrooms, such as
gymnastics and bowling. Physical
Education teachers check-out
the mobile bicycle classroom and conduct the program independently. In this way the SRTS curriculum is adopted
and sustained by each school and student instruction will continue each
year.
If you are interested in having SRTS at your child’s school
or to volunteer at these educational events, email grandvalleybikes@gmail.com or
visit www.saferoutesinfo.org
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Run/Walk/Bike Family Fun Day
You don’t want to miss the second benefit event of 2012 to
honor the Riverfront Trail’s 25th Anniversary on Saturday, May 5th from 8a-12p. The fun begins at Corn Lake on
32 Rd (parking cost is covered by the registration fee) at 9a with a 9- or
14-mile bike loop led by GVB, a 5k run/walk is also available that begins at
9:30a. The bike loop allows for a
shorter and longer option: everyone begins
on the new Riverfront Trail section east of Corn Lake, turning south on the new
pedestrian bridge and continuing south on 32 ½ Road, turning west on B ½ Road, THEN
EITHER turning north on 29 Road to the Riverfront Trail and east back to Corn
Lake (9 miles) OR continue further west on B ½, winding through residential Orchard
Mesa to Eagle Rim Park, north across the river on the pedestrian bridge and
east on C ½ Road and the Riverfront
Trail to loop back to Corn Lake (14 miles).
To register or for more information go to http://riverfrontproject.org/events/18-family-fun-day-5k
OR call 970-683-4333 for a registration form.
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Bike Rodeo Course for Everyone!
GVB has been taking the rodeo course, a sampling of bikes
and helmets to the streets. We set up
the rodeo at MOG Fest on April 14th with great success-people ages 8
to 60 years old were taught hand signals and proper helmet fit among other
things. We look forward to educating
with fun at more summer activities including Earth Day on Sunday May 6th
from 11a-5p. Come out and see us!
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Colorado Bike to Work Day & Month
June is Bike to Work Month and Wednesday, June 27 is Bike to Work Day! Mark your calendar and get pumped up for
breakfast, prizes and amusement on your bike commute to work! Email grandvalleybikes@gmail.com to get
involved or for a Bike to Work Day poster to hang at your workplace!
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Bike to School Day is Wednesday, May 9th (in case you skipped the SRTS
article). Switch gears and bike to
school, or accompany your children on their ride to school!
