Bike Rodeo event highlights bike safety as school year approaches

By Ian Swaby
| 7:00 a.m. August 3, 2025

Marina Prybylski, 7, and her brother Tristan Prybylski, 5, prepare to head onto the course.

Sarasota
Neighbors

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.

Jocelyn Martinez' daughter Janessa Delgadillo, 4

Kevin McGuckin, 3, enjoys working an air pump with his mother Kellie McGuckin.

Eloise Windsor, 5, receives a helmet from her mother Christine Windsor.

Tristan Prybylski, 5, receives a helmet.

Sophie Windsor, 7, rides on the obstacle course.

Eugene Rider talks with Jennifer Bowles.

Lisbett Remedios and her son Jeremiah Vidal, 5, head to the helmet station.

Maria Caro, 6, prepares to receive a helmet from Officer Matt Grochowski.

Leo Gomez, 3, rides with help from his mother Jill Bowen.

Kids were invited to ride on an obstacle course.

author

Ian Swaby

Ian Swaby is the Sarasota neighbors writer for the Observer. Ian is a Florida State University graduate of Editing, Writing, and Media and previously worked in the publishing industry in the Cayman Islands.