Last month Sheldon Public Library hosted a bike rodeo in their town. Fifty-five people attended, and one-third of those were new to the library. What a great way to introduce community members to a vital public resource, the local library.
Like any bike rodeo, it would not have been possible without volunteers donating their time and knowledge to help promote cycling safety. Seventeen people, including five EMTs, were on site to help make the eight stations for this rodeo run smoothly.
Helmets were given away and properly fitted, basic maintenance was done on the bikes to make sure they roll all summer long. Other stations included how to cross city streets, and a fun obstacle course including figure 8s and throwing a newspaper. Thank you to our bike rodeo coordinator Annie McCabe, the Youth Services Librarian at Sheldon Public Library
Annie and I had the pleasure of speaking to the State Library of Iowa and record an informative kernel (Iowa corn humor) about the Sheldon rodeo, how to host your own on a tight budget, and how to utilize the bike rodeo toolkit to design a bike rodeo that fits your community. You can find the video right here to learn about the rodeo and how to partner with the Iowa Bicycle Coalition on how to promote cycling education in your town.
And if you do want to host a cycling education event, download our Iowa Bike Rodeo toolkit and contact us at matt@iowabike.org.
Want to help expand cycling education in Iowa? Help us reach our matching grant by donating here.
