The SouthEast Texas Hike & Bike Coalition is very committed to
childrens cycling safety. To achieve our goal of having all children
ride safely we have begun our safety program by holding Bicycle Safety
Rodeos throughout the Golden Triangle Area. We
have teamed with the local chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association
& the Lamar University Nursing Program to hold these rodeos.
Our first Bicycle Safety Rodeo
was held at the Entergy Texas parking lot in downtown Beaumont, on
October 7th, 2006, we had a good turnout of 26 kids, and every child
who participated was given a new bicycle helmet, that was properly
fitted, then they joined in the Don't Be An Egghead demonstration that
showed them in a very real way how that new helmet would protect their
head. After learning about their helmets the kids move out onto the
Street Safety Riding Course where they learn skills such as how to
properly enter traffic, and how to signal, turn and obey traffic signs.
On February 12th, 2007, we had the oppertunity to do a 1 hour Bicycle Safety Presentation for over 100 5th grade students at Caldwood Elementary School in Beaumont.
Our second Bicycle Safety Rodeo was held at the Bob Bower Civic Center in Port Arthur, February 24th, 2007, we had 16 kids go through the course, before Southeast Texas weather cut our day short.
Our third Bicycle Safety Rodeo was held at the MacArthur Center in Orange, September 22nd, 2007, just ten days after Hurricane Humberto had blown through the area, we arrived to find a fleet of nearly 100 tree trimming trucks using the entire parking lot for a staging area before heading out to clean up the mess the storm had made. We got a late start setting up the course, but once the tree crews pulled out for the day we had 28 kids go through the course, and we were very happy to have a young man learn to ride his bike without training wheels while on the course that day.
On November 16th, 2007, we were invited to do two 1-1/2 hour Bicycle Safety Presentations for the entire student body at Bingman Elementary School in Beaumont, the first was for the younger classes, then the second presentation was for the older kids.
Our 2008 Bicycle Safety Rodeo was canceled due to the recovery from Hurricane Ike that had done so much damage to the area.
On February 12th, 2007, we had the oppertunity to do a 1 hour Bicycle Safety Presentation for over 100 5th grade students at Caldwood Elementary School in Beaumont.
Our second Bicycle Safety Rodeo was held at the Bob Bower Civic Center in Port Arthur, February 24th, 2007, we had 16 kids go through the course, before Southeast Texas weather cut our day short.
Our third Bicycle Safety Rodeo was held at the MacArthur Center in Orange, September 22nd, 2007, just ten days after Hurricane Humberto had blown through the area, we arrived to find a fleet of nearly 100 tree trimming trucks using the entire parking lot for a staging area before heading out to clean up the mess the storm had made. We got a late start setting up the course, but once the tree crews pulled out for the day we had 28 kids go through the course, and we were very happy to have a young man learn to ride his bike without training wheels while on the course that day.
On November 16th, 2007, we were invited to do two 1-1/2 hour Bicycle Safety Presentations for the entire student body at Bingman Elementary School in Beaumont, the first was for the younger classes, then the second presentation was for the older kids.
Our 2008 Bicycle Safety Rodeo was canceled due to the recovery from Hurricane Ike that had done so much damage to the area.
On November 21st, 2008, we were once again invited to do bicycle safety presentations for the entire student body at Bingman and Blanchette Elementary
Schools in Beaumont, We reached over 300 students during these presentations.
Our October 24, 2009
Bicycle Safety Rodeo was
held in the old Academy store parking lot in Beaumont. We had a great turnout
of volunteers from both the Emergency Nurses Association and the Lamar
University Nursing Students, we were also joined by a representative of the
Travelers Protective Association. We once
again provided new helmets to all participants along with demonstrating how a
helmet protects the head and then riding our safety course.
On November 20th, 2009, we were once again invited to do bicycle safety presentations for the entire student body at
Bingman Elementary
School in Beaumont, We reached over 300 students during these presentations.