SafeCyclist Teacher Survey 2013

Each year BikeTexas surveys teachers and community leaders around the state who have been certified with the SafeCyclists Curriculum to teach bicycle skills and safety to 4th and 5th graders. 

If you've ever been to one of our SafeCyclists (formerly SuperCyclist) Certification Trainings, please take 5 minutes to fill out this quick 3 question survey. Click here to take the survey now! 

Responses help us to gauge the progress of this program in our partnership with Texas Department of Transportation and will help to secure future funding for teaching bicycle skills and safety across Texas.

As a bonus thank you for your priceless work to encourage healthy, active children, we will send you a bike light set. Each light set comes with one red and one white LED blinky light.  Each light easily attaches in seconds and without tools to clothing, backpacks or bicycles. These lights are highly visible from over 500 feet away. Each set comes attached to a zero-waste card with valuable safety information for cyclists and pedestrians. Keep it to refresh your memory or pass it on!

If you have questions about the survey, please contact:

Brenda Chuleewah
SafeCyclist Teacher Training Manager
BikeTexas
512-476-7433
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Start Planning Your Bike to School Day Now!

May 8 is National Bike and Walk to School Day! But you don't have to follow the crowd: any day that is convenient for your school will be beneficial. Start planning now to have a Bike and Walk to School Day before the end of the school year!

Not sure where to start? We have you covered! Download the BikeTexas Safe Routes to School Event Manual, which gives parents, teachers, and youth community workers the tools and resources to organize several types of bike and walking events for their school, neighborhood or community.

The handbook provides step by step instructions to guide you in planning a successful day! In addition to Bike and Walk to School Day, there are how-tos for other bike and walk events: Bike/Walk Rodeo, Kids Fun Race, Neighborhood Walk and Roll, and making a Bike/Walk event into a fund raiser.

Walking or riding to school can help children reach the recommended level of sixty minutes of physical activity per day. Research also shows that physical activity contributes to a child's academic achievement and mental health (picture at right is from this research article).

A school's first Bike and Walk to School Day could be the jump start that students and their parents need when they realize that walking or biking is a great way to start the day. If more students walk or bike, there can also be a reduction in traffic congestion at the school, resulting in calmer drop-off and pickup times and increased safety for all students, teachers, and parents who travel to and from school.

Mapping out routes for the day can be beneficial for all students for Bike and Walk day and for the days after the event. City planning officials can identify locations that need some attention with crossing guards, marking crosswalks, sidewalk improvements, or crossing lights.

The Event Handbook was designed to share with your PTA leaders so they can assist a school in putting on fun and active events. The section on how to have events be a way to raise funds will be helpful in many ways. Download your Event Handbook today and have a GREAT Bike and Walk to School Day!

Fifth Grade National Poster Contest 2013

The annual Fifth Grade National Poster Contest is underway! BikeTexas encourages you and your schools to get your fifth graders' creativity flowing by making a poster about this year's theme, "Bikes Make Life Better." Each school may submit one winning poster to the Texas contest.

The winner of the Texas contest will receive a bicycle, a helmet, and a light, and go on to the national contest for a chance at a trip to Washington, DC in 2014. The 2012 National Contest winner, Isabell Gehrt from Iowa, was in D.C. this week for the National Bike Summit. We would love to see a Texan on the stage next year! (Read more about Isabell at the Summit here.) The national winner's school will receive bike parking for 20 bikes and a bike/walk system called The Hub, which makes it easy to add an incentive system for cycling and walking to school.

The second place winner in the Texas contest wins a helmet and a light, and the third-place winner will receive a helmet.

All entries must be postmarked by April 1. Submit your entry to:

BikeTexas
ATTN: Poster Contest
1902 E 6th St
Austin, TX 78702

Each entry must have a complete permission slip attached. Download the permission slip here.

See the complete list of rules here.  

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Please pass this information along to anyone who might be interested. We look forward to seeing your posters!

BikeTexas KidsKup at Mellow Johnny's Classic

BikeTexas headed out on a beautiful Saturday morning for the short drive to Dripping Springs for the Mellow Johnny's KidsKup. The "big kid" races were already in full swing as we arrived and set up for another fun event. The course was marked and ready to go, and there was no keeping the kids from pre-riding and enjoying the challenge of navigating loose sand and rocks with their bikes.

The KidsKup race was scheduled a little early this week, to sync up with the pro women's race. Parents and kids were able to watch the pro women start before heading to the KidsKup start line for a safety talk, a check of brakes and air, and then the serious part of the day: Racing!

An enthusiastic crowd of parents, friends, and excited older siblings cheered on all the racers, from two-year-olds up to 12-year-olds. In all, 30 happy racers left with a medal and a sense of accomplishment, and maybe a new friend or two.

Don't miss out on the KidsKup fun! We still have six races to go in our spring series. Visit the BikeTexas KidsKup schedule for dates, times, and links to more event information!