Students participated in Bike Safety Rodeo on Thursday at Florida Mesa Elementary School where they were given free helmets and received lessons in bike and safety skills.
John Constan, education coordinator for the Durango Fire Protection District, directed students through an obstacle course where they learned what to do at a stop light, how to make sharp turns, navigate a stoplight, control their speed and cross railroad tracks.
“Any time I can be working with kids, educating them, I love it; it’s all about education,” Constan said.
Amy Haggart and Brittany Cowen with Grey Matters, an organization run through CommonSpirit Health and Mercy Hospital that provides brain safety education, taught children the importance of wearing a helmet and the dangers of brain injuries.
“I’ve had a really bad traumatic brain injury and so this is really important to me and I love sharing that with the kids,” Cowen said.
Derek Fiorenza, owner of Animas Cycles, a traveling bike shop operated out of a trailer, offered free tuneups for students’ bikes, blowing up tires, oiling chains, adjusting seats and checking brakes.
“I see, in the rural communities, often the bikes sit outside for the winter and cycling isn't a priority like it is maybe more in town,” Fiorenza said. “So the bikes might get neglected a little more.”
Other organizations that contributed to help put on the event were Devo, a nonprofit that promotes cycling among youths; Wheelie Cool LLC, an organization that provides bikes to elementary schools in Southwest Colorado; and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s important to teach kids bike safety,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Burke. “If they don’t have a helmet, we can get them one through Grey Matters – keep them safe over the summer.”
Whether they like wearing their helmets or not, the students at Florida Mesa Elementary School enjoyed the opportunity to spend the sunny afternoon on their bikes.
First grader Arinz Anena said his favorite thing about riding a bike is, “That you can go wherever you want.”
nmetcalf@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story included a photo caption that misspelled Dellora Dober’s last name.
