Children to test their mettle on the pedals with bike tour
Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008
The 100-mile Big Dam Bridge 100 bicycle tour turns 3 years old this year. Meanwhile, Arkansas 4-H, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service youth program, turns 100 years old.
So that’s three years of century rides and a century of challenging young Arkansans to think about what they’re doing with their heads, hearts, hands and health.
Sounds like a coincidence. But the organizers of the BDB 100 have bridged the gap of mere coincidence, cooperating with the Cooperative Extension Service to extend the Big Dam Bridge menu of events set for Sept. 27 to include a 4-H Centennial Bike Ride.
The 4-H Centennial Ride will be 12 miles long — a good distance for children ages 12 and younger to aspire to ride among a horde of other families and kids.
Young riders might aim to go farther, and the BDB 100 also includes a 32-mile ride they could tackle. But cyclists have to be age 12 or older to enter the BDB’s 50-, 85- or 100-mile tours; and teens age 18 and younger must have the consent of their parent or guardian. All these courses will begin in North Little Rock’s Burns Park.
To help young cyclists prepare for the Centennial Ride and to improve the safe-cycling habits of young Arkansans in general, which can be abysmal, the cooperative effort has created the 4-H Hot Wheels 100. Hot Wheels is a 12-week training series in which youngsters pedal three times a week, progressing to longer distances each week.
More astute kids are likely to notice that 12 miles is not 100 miles. But those who follow the schedule will accumulate 88 miles before Sept. 27, and riding the 12-mile Centennial Ride will lift their total to 100. (Like the Little Rock Marathon’s Little Rockers Kids Marathon, only with wheels. )
To get a special goody bag, they’ll bring their completed training logs documenting at least 88 miles of effort to the 4-H booth at the Big Dam Bridge Expo before the tour or to the finish line the day of the tour.
The schedule began last week, but children who didn’t start training then have only missed two miles of riding. This week, their calendar calls for pedaling a half-mile today, a mile Thursday and two miles Saturday.
Hot Wheels’ schedule was devised by 4-H youth program associate Willa Williams. Williams is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math ) specialist, and bicycling falls under her responsibility as part of the 4-H engineering curriculum. (“ You’ve got to know gearing, ” she explains. )
The training calendar is posted online at www. bigdambridge. org next to a training schedule aimed at adults doing the BDB 100. Anyone can download these schedules, and that’s the idea: Participants in the 4-H Hot Wheels do not need to belong to 4-H.
They also don’t have to participate in Hot Wheels group rides, but Williams is offering a series of them at 6: 30 p.m. every Monday until the BDB 100.
In addition, she’s posting videos at the Extension Web site, www. uaex. edu, with tips to supplement the training. The first videos relate to the “ABC Quick Check,” a mnemonic tool riders can use to ensure their machines are in good condition before each outing (see graphic above ).
The first announced group ride, a half-mile leg stretcher at 6: 30 p.m. July 6 in Little Rock’s Murray Park, drew no participants other than the leaders — Williams, her fellow licensed cycling instructor Tom Ezell and their friend Claibanne Williamson. But they were cheerfully determined to show up again tonight in hopes that parents will take advantage of a chance to get their kids some free cycling safety instruction and practice pedaling with a group.
Anyone can meet them at 6: 30 p.m. on the Little Rock-side parking lot below the Big Dam Bridge. They plan a five-minute educational talk, and then the group will pedal a half-mile on the River Trail.
“Even though the 4-H Hot Wheels 100 is a junior training program for youth up to 19 years of age, this ride is for everyone,” Williams says. If kids don’t turn out, the adults will simply enjoy a low-key ride suitable for adult beginners.
More information is at wwilliams@uaex. edu or at (501 ) 231-0820. The League of American Bicyclists suggests that riders do the “ABC Quick Check” before every ride. The name explains what to look for: A is for air. B is for brakes. C is for cranks, chain, cassette. Quick is for quick-release levers, if you have them on the wheels and seat post. Check means a general check — just look the bike over to make sure nothing’s obviously amiss.
AS FOR AIR.
ven good bicycle tubes leak ir and gradually deflate. Willa Williams checks the recommended tire pressure on Claibanne Williams’ bike tire before adding more. The amount needed depends on the type of tire, not the type of bicycle. BIS FOR BRAKES. Tom Ezell points to the gap between the brake lever and handlebars as Willa Williams makes sure there’s still room in there for her thumb when she engages her brakes. If the lever was too close to the handlebar, she would tighten the brake cables before riding. Check front and back brake pads for wear and make sure they will rub the rims, not the tires. CIS FOR CRANKS, CHAIN, CASSETTE. Oops, the chain has slipped off the big ring. A bike might throw the chain when you begin riding if it was jostled out of gear during transport, so it’s smart to rotate the wheels once or twice before setting out. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / KIRK MONTGOMERY PHOTOS: Russell Powell
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
