SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs City School District Bike Rodeo returns on May 4, offering district families the opportunity to practice safe bike riding, play games, and more.
The event first became a district-wide offering last year, originally beginning at Lake Avenue Elementary School. This year’s event will be held at East Side Recreation Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and will offer minor bike maintenance, a helmet-fitting station, games, an obstacle course, raffles, and more.
Lake Ave physical education teacher Jake Zanetti said the event initially grew as an extension of the school’s annual ‘Bike-to-School’ day. He said between 200 and 250 Lake Ave students bike to school on the annual date. SSCSD’s Bike-to-School Day will take place May 19.
“We have a huge walking and biking community at Lake Ave,” said Zanetti. “So we kind of came up with this Bike Rodeo thing that we do two weeks before the Bike to School day, to get kids and their families prepped for safe bike riding. Then it kind of just kept growing and growing.”
Now, the event is sponsored by local companies such as BikeaToga, Saratoga Shredders, Trek Bicycles, Grey Ghost Bicycles, and more. The Bike Rodeo also receives support from the Saratoga Springs City Police and Fire Departments, and Boy Scouts Troop 4016.
Zanetti said around 80 to 85 Lake Ave students attend the Bike Rodeo yearly, and that roughly 150 students from the district’s other five elementary schools attended last year. He also emphasized that the event is not solely for bike enthusiasts.
“We try to encourage kids who don’t even have a bike, ‘Hey, come and we’ll try to get you a bike,’” Zanetti said. “If you don’t have a helmet, we’ll try to give you a helmet. Give kids opportunities just to learn what it takes to get on a bike, how to do it safely, where they can participate outside of school, outside of bike rodeos.”
The Saratoga Springs City Police will be in attendance, allowing kids to register bikes in their bike registry, making for an easier recovery if a bike is lost or stolen.
“The kids love that, because they let the kids sit in the cop cars and flick the lights and do the sirens,” said Zanetti.
Boy Scouts Troop 4016 will be running a hand-signaling station, teaching kids proper hand signals for riding a bike on streets. From there, kids will move on to the helmet-fitting station, where Zanetti said they can either receive or donate a helmet.
Local mechanics will also be on site, offering examinations of air pressure, brakes, and chains for any kids having problems with their bikes.
“If you have bigger issues than that, they’ll recommend you to one of the local bike shops that can fix you up better,” said Zanetti.
After advancing through the stations, kids proceed to the Bike Rodeo course, located on the track at East Side Rec. Zanetti said the rodeo course contains “lots of different practices,” including starting, stopping, turning, and other basic bike traffic safety.
“Then the event kind of runs itself there,” Zanetti said. “Kids are free to loop around the obstacle course.”
All kids participating will have a chance to enter a raffle for a $350 gift card to Trek Bicycles. The Bike Rodeo also includes other fun activities, with Zanetti saying the Boy Scouts will bring an archery set, and that the National Guard has brought a rock-climbing wall in past years.
As a Saratoga native, Zanetti said “it’s really special” to see the Bike Rodeo grow in the community each year.
“Growing up, we went to East Side Rec all the time,” said Zanetti. “Saratoga being a very bike-friendly city, it’s cool. It’s fun to be a part of. It’s all for the kids, so it’s great. ...It’s a really cool, big-time community thing that we want to keep going and moving in the right direction.”
The 2023 SSCSD Bike Rodeo will be held May 4 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at East Side Recreation Park.
