The Grenfell Elementary Community School hosted their annual Bike Rodeo on Wednesday afternoon, in keeping with the 10th annual Bicycle Safety Week (May 13-19).
Kindergarten to Grade 5 students peddled against gusty winds and soaked in the sunshine, learning about bicycle safety and improving their skills.
Community Schools Coordinator Debbie Peterson said the Bike Rodeo teaches students how to identify road signs, how to navigate through intersections and to gain an overall greater understanding of bicycle safety.
The local Bike Rodeo is held each year in concert with the province wide Bicycle Safety Week, which promoted this year’s theme Save Your Melon.
While cycling is a healthy and environmentally friendly activity which provides recreation and transportation, it is not without risks, including brain injury and death.
One out of every three children who are hospitalized with cycling-related injuries suffers a head injury (injury to the scalp, skull or brain).
Saskatchewan youth, aged 12 to 19 years, have the lowest rate of helmet use when cycling, of all age groups. Only 17 per cent of youth wear a helmet every time they ride a bicycle.
The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute promotes safe cycling and reports that by wearing a properly fit bicycle helmet, cyclists can reduce their risk of head injury by up to 85 per cent.
Helmets work by absorbing the impact of a crash, distributing the impact over a large area, and minimizing violent movement of the brain within the skull.
In Canada, the direct medical costs associated with brain injury and death due to cycling-related injuries exceeds $195 million per year.
sunnews@sasktel.net
