by Aaron Skabelund, Provo Bicycle Committee Chair
Last week, I presented the Rad Riders’ Award to Westridge Elementary School for
having the most bicycle trips during last month’s Provo’s Fourth Annual Bike-to-
School Week (September 8-12) of all the K-12 schools in the Provo School District.
Students at Westridge made a grand total of 826 bicycle trips during those five days
of school, even though Monday and Tuesday morning were a bit rainy and chilly.
Impressive, but not all far behind were many other schools.
Students all across Provo bicycled to school that week, and continue to do so. (When
I visited Westridge last Monday, the five or six bike racks were nearly full.) Other
schools, such as Wasatch, Sunset View, Centennial, and Rock Canyon reported
that their bike racks were overflowing during bike week. And some schools that
participated for the first time this year, such as Franklin and Amelia Earhart, had
high participation rates. Some schools such as Edgemont extended the week beyond
bicycles to include scooters and walking, but what was important was that students
were using their own two-feet to get to school in unprecedented numbers. As the
Daily Herald put it, “The Sun Came Out; So Did the Bikes.†Parents got involved too,
riding with their children to school across the city, for example, from the Carterville
Neighborhood to Westridge. At Lakeview, one parent volunteer tuned up many
dozens of bikes for hours one day after school. Thank you schools and parents for all
your support.
And thanks to Mayor Curtis for jumpstarting things by proclaiming Bike-to-School
Week during a City Council meeting in early September. Thanks to the bike shops—
Canyons, Mad Dog, Outdoors Unlimited, Racers, and Taylor’s—that provided prizes
to assigned schools to help motivate students to ride. Thanks to Provo Parks and
Rec (and UVRMC as well as the Utah County Health Department, Jigawatt Cycles and
Mad Dog) for their support of the Bike-in-Movie and the Provo Bicycle Collective for
holding the Bike Tune-up Workshop. And most of all, thanks to all the students—
young and old—who rode and continue to bicycle to school. They know, from
experience, that everyday is a good day to bicycle.
Here are some photos of the week and the presentation of the Rad Riders’ Award at
Westridge.
