Bike safety, bike fun on agenda for Moses Lake bike rodeo
A bike rider navigates the obstacle course at the 2021 bike rodeo sponsored by the Moses Lake Kiwanis and their partners. The 2023 bike rodeo is Saturday.
File photo
A rider pedals her way through the 2021 bike rodeo.
A volunteer demonstrates some maintenance for a bike owner. The 2023 bike rodeo, sponsored by the Moses Lake Kiwanis and partners, will be Saturday at the Larson Recreation Center.
MOSES LAKE — All things bicycle will be the focus of the annual bike rodeo, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the ice rink and parking lot at the Larson Recreation Center, 2501 W. Broadway Ave. in Moses Lake.
The bike rodeo has been a project of the Moses Lake Kiwanis and the Moses Lake Trail Planning Team since about 2019, with interruptions for the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time other sponsors have come on board.
The bike rodeo was the brainchild of Kiwanis member Louis Logan, and he came up with the official name, “Bicycle Activities, Repairs, Giveaway and Skills.” It replaced a longtime Kiwanis project.
That project was giving dictionaries to all third-graders in Moses Lake. But instruction has shifted to a more technology-based model, so children stopped using dictionaries. The bike rodeo is the club’s alternative.
The centerpiece will be the obstacle course. In fact, there are two courses, one basic and one advanced. The obstacle courses emphasize bike safety, such as the importance of basic safety habits like signaling and wearing a bike helmet.
The Grant Transit Authority is one of the exhibitors, and children who finish the obstacle courses get to do something most people aren’t allowed to do.
“They celebrate by honking the horn on the bus,” Logan said.
Children can play reading and writing games that talk about bikes and bike safety, and there’s also bicycle information for parents. The trails planning team has information on the bike and walking trails around Moses Lake.
Children can get flat bike tires fixed and learn about bike maintenance, and there will be other bicycle-related games. Free bike helmets will be available for qualifying children; there’s a drawing for bikes and not just one bike.
“We have 16 bikes to give away,” Logan said.
All are used and have been repaired and refurbished.
A BMX bike race is scheduled for Saturday morning, and children are invited to go watch.
Additional sponsors include the city of Moses Lake, the Samaritan Foundation, Thrivent Insurance, Horizon Credit Union, the Grant County Health District and the Confluence & WVMC Community Partnership Fund.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
