RTC Helps Spread the Joy of Riding to Baltimore Students
Sometimes, it doesn't feel like work! Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) trail development team members Kelly Pack and Lindsay Martin have been traveling up to Baltimore, MD., these past few weeks to help run an afterschool program teaching local kids some valuable bike skills, important bike safety, and even how to look after and maintain their machines.
The program is called Pedal in the Parks, and the aim is to give more children from inner-city neighborhoods the opportunity to experience the joys and benefits of two-wheeled transportation.
Of course, the first obstacle to getting more students riding is that not every child has a bike. Thanks to our friends at The Coca-Cola Foundation, at the end of the six-week program the students will get to take home their very own bike, lock, helmet and lights. Thanks also to Joe's Bike Shop at Fells Point for getting the program a great deal on bikes!
If you click on the photo to the right you'll see a slideshow of photos of recent after school sessions with the kids from Afya Public Charter School and St. Francis of Assisi School, led by Bike Maryland Program Coordinator Katie Gore and supported by Belair-Edison Neighborhoods, Inc.
We're about halfway through the program right now, and it has been very cool to see how this group of students has taken to the task of learning about pedal power and all the ins and outs of bike maintenance. Must be something to do with the great teachers!
