Nothing says summer like riding a bike with your friends. Kids at Be a Gem Crossing did just that last Friday after the bell rang on the last day of school.
Through a growing partnership between the Bicycle Coalition and North 10, over 30 kids and adults got to ride bikes at the Be a Gem Crossing Family Bike Day in just 2 hours.
Smiles grew as kids chose stickers and decorated their helmets. Throughout the afternoon, 25 kids rode in the chalked traffic garden loop, building their bike handling skills. A few kids learned to ride for the first time and many increased their starting, stopping, turning skills and ability to share the road.
Five adults also got to test ride Indego bikes, both Classic and E-Bikes, through our partnership with the Better Bike Share Partnership.
Be a Gem Crossing is a new 41 unit, affordable housing development bringing critical new services and housing to the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor in the East Tioga neighborhood. In addition to the bike rodeo, the Bicycle Coalition also facilitated a donation of 8 youth bikes to Be a Gem Crossing to start a fleet for kids to ride throughout the year.
Thank you to our partners from Safe Routes Philly and Vision Zero Ambassadors, who shared information and coloring books about navigating the city safely as pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. And shout-out to the North 10 team who were amazing co-hosts, offering cold water and snacks and more to fuel the youth and adult riders.
We look forward to building out additional bike programming in the future to meet the enthusiastic demand (many kids asked when they can ride again).
