October has come, and gone, can you believe it?! After months of hunkering down and keeping safe, we began planning a whole bunch of safe, physically-distanced programming and materials to bring some fun and excitement to the average day. This October was like no other… oddly warm and dry days, pleasant breezes, trails filled with leaves and kids biking, among other things. Keep reading for a full glimpse into Biketober – a jam-packed month of bike fun.
Bike Clubs
We missed all our bike clubs kids over the Summer, and have begun doing some small group/pod programs this Fall for groups that have agreed to co-mingle during COVID-19. We’ve led bike clubs for 4 small groups of kids, one at Metz Recreation Center, Cook ES, Gullett ES, and Patterson Neighborhood Park. The 27 participants learned basic bike skills like hand signals and scanning, and rode some challenging obstacle courses!
Our staff instructors have also been leading virtual bike clubs so kids can keep learning the importance of helmets, safety, and rules of the road while keeping safe at home. We led 3 weekly virtual bike clubs for 14 students at Widen ES, Houston ES, and Perez ES.
Bicycle Skills Challenge
Since kids have switched up their school schedule to include virtual materials, we partnered with AISD Physical Education instructors to assign our Bicycle Skills Challenge at Home virtual program to students. Check out the virtual guide at athome.cycleacademy.org.
BikeStart – Learn to Ride
We are thrilled that some of our younger riders learned to ride without training wheels through our BikeStart program. These kiddos participated in one of our pod programs, but we also created an online guide for parents, guardians, or caretakers who want to help their kids learn to ride and balance on a two-wheeled bike. Check it out at bikestart.cycleacademy.org. Kick, kick, glide!
City Cyclist
Our staff put together two helpful online guides for adults that are new to biking and want to learn the basics of bike commuting and bike maintenance. If you are already familiar, share with a friend and then you can ride confidently together! Check out the guides:
Athome.citycyclist.org and basicbikemaint.citycyclist.org
Over in San Antonio, our staff have been leading a 5-week interactive bike workshop online with Eco Centro. They are covering the whole spectrum of what you need to know to begin biking including route finding, rules of the road, techniques, proper signaling, hydration, locks, and more.
Pedal to the Polls
Throughout the month of October, we shared free information surrounding poll sites, including early voting locations, hours, accessibility, bicycle parking, bus routes, and much more. We took the lead from PeopleForBikes.org and encouraged everyone to use our bikes to cast our vote and #pedaltothepolls! View our guide here: http://pedaltothepolls.citycyclist.org/
Short Films
We have a new short film out in our “Bike Stories : everyday people’s adventures on two wheels!” series featuring Allan Torra talking about life, love, work, and bikes. Allan, a construction project manager who works to construct pedestrian and bicycle paths and trails in Austin, speaks about his experience both as someone who not only builds bike facilities, but as a rider who has grown to use them frequently in his everyday life. Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/472762897
Webberville Bikeway is ready for use! This new facility provides an all-ages all-abilities connector for ACC Eastside Campus, the future home of Eastside Memorial High School, Booker T. Washington Terrace, and Oak Springs Elementary. Check out a quick ride-through the new Webberville Bikeway to see what it’s like: https://vimeo.com/468367044
Halloween 2020 & Trick or Treat Delivered to You
Spooky times call for spooky rides. Visit with some of Austin’s most iconic spooky spots, and see our Austin Haunted Self-Guided Bike Tour: https://arcg.is/14m11q
We were hoping to host our second annual Trick or Treat on the Trail, a community wide Halloween event in Boggy Creek Park in East Austin. However since things looked a little different this year due to Covid-19, we wanted to find a way to offer up the same fun, but also stay physically distanced… so we came up with Trick or Treat Delivered to YOU!
1,200 Halloween Party Packs successfully delivered by bike. A fantastic set of staff and volunteer Candy Couriers helped kids have a COVID compatible Halloween by delivering packs full of candy, toothbrush sets, coloring books, biking-walking-driving safety info, and Austin Public Health resources. Drop-off included households in East Austin, high capacity low-income housing, and the Austin Women’s Shelter, all by bike! It was a perfect day to be out biking and supporting the community. Check out the photo album here.
