In 2013, our Women Bike PHL program developed a “Girl Scouts on Wheels” patch geared toward Junior-level Girl Scouts in the region. The extremely cute patch, pictured below, was available to area Girl Scouts who completed 5 bike-related activities as laid out in the patch curriculum. Unfortunately, this exact patch is no longer in production — but any commercially available ‘bicycle’ patch will do!

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The (now out-of-production) ‘Girl Scouts on Wheels’ patch, based on our ‘Women Bike PHL’ program logo. Any commercially available patch can simply be used, instead!

What kinds of activities, you ask? Here’s Step 1 from the curriculum – girls must complete one of the three options in this step.

Step 1 – Know Your Bike

A bicycle is a beautifully simple tool — its basic design hasn’t changed much since it was invented in the 1860s! Before you ride, it’s nice to know what makes your machine work. Use this step to get to know your bike a little better.

 CHOICES:

  1. Learn about different types of bicycles. Bicycles come in all shapes and sizes. Some are heavier, and built for commuting. Others are light and fast, for athletes to race. Some have wide tires, for riding in the woods, and others have skinny tires for pavement. What kind of bicycle do you have?
  2. Discover the parts of a bicycle. Did you know that a bicycle has at least fifteen parts? Learn and label the parts of your bike — and then quiz yourself!
  3. Try filling your tires with air. After lots of riding, your tires will need some extra air. This is the easiest and most common piece of bike maintenance you will need to do. Borrow a bike pump from a parent, friend, or bike shop, and learn how to pump up those tires!

For more FUN: Learn how to fix a flat tire on your bicycle. Put together your own Fix-a-Flat Toolkit to bring with you on longer rides.

How to bring the patch to your troop

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Philly Girl Scouts participating in a bike rodeo in 2013

Any Girl Scout leaders interested in having their troops earn the Girl Scouts on Wheels patch should do the following:

  1. Download the curriculum.
  2. Work with your girls to complete one option in each of the 5 categories (Know Your Bike, Safety Skills, Map It Out, Get Rolling, A World of Biking). The Safe Routes Philly website is a great place to start!
  3. Once your girls have completed the requirements, award them with a patch — although the ‘Girls Bike PHL’ patch we originally used is no longer available, you can use any commercially available patch!

Let’s help overcome the huge dropoff in biking among girls in their teenage years. Let’s get more young women on bikes!

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