A bike rodeo helps introduce kids to a safe, healthy and eco-conscious hobby in an environment that’s designed to teach them valuable bike safety lessons.

Set up a bike rodeo course using chalk or tape to create narrow lanes. Soft obstacles like sponges can be placed in the lanes to help bikers learn to ride.

Successful bike rodeos prioritize safety and education. Bikers should leave with an understanding of essential cycling skills, like scanning or avoiding hazards. 

To design a bike rodeo course, all you need is tape or chalk and small, easily avoidable obstacles. Setup takes 30-60 minutes to ensure the course’s safety.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) promotes walking and biking to school through infrastructure improvements, enforcement tools, safety education, and incentives.

Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, Evaluation, and Equity are the 6 E’s that make successful Safe Routes to School programs.

Many bike rodeos are facilitated by an organization’s team (oftentimes a nonprofit’s staff), volunteers, local police officers, paramedics, and/or firefighters.

A popular game is a “Dodge”. Using chalk or tape and soft obstacles like sponges, riders practice steering and braking in a safe environment.

Sponges, cardboard boxes, and small pebbles make great obstacles for bike rodeos because they allow riders to safely practicing balancing, steering, and breaking.

A bike rodeo’s head organizer should have a planning committee, funding, helmets, a course design, prizes, refreshments, and an itinerary for the bike rodeo.

• Traffic safety: Reduce fatalities and injuries by calming traffic, offering separated facilities, encouraging helmet use, and teaching riders about traffic safety.
• Community safety: Encourage street-level activity, which reduces crime and blight, promotes physical activity, and improves community ties.
• Physical activity: Result in health benefits of increased physical activity among children.