Bike Rodeo event highlights bike safety as school year approaches

Parent Jocelyn Martinez said she'd learned a new trick during the Bike Rodeo on Saturday, Aug. 2. 

She learned that taking the pedals off a bike could help kids discover how to balance on it, and said this was something she was going to bring home with her.

"We'll be coming next summer as well," Martinez said.

The sixth annual Bike Rodeo, held at the Sarasota City YMCA branch on Aug. 2, included a bike safety and obstacle course for kids, with free bikes, helmets and tune-ups, all provided on a donation basis.

The Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club (SMBC) and the Sarasota Police Department also managed the event, with vendor Taco Fusion Express offering breakfast tacos.

Pamela Peters, membership coordinator at the YMCA, said the rodeo is held before the start of school, since many children ride their bikes to and from school.

She said although the event did not draw as large of a turnout as in past years, due to not being held during the YMCA's summer camp, 70 families registered, with 32 bikes and some 40 helmets offered.