With Spring on the horizon and the hope of warmer weather, many people are probably thinking about breaking out their bikes and going on a ride but an event in Colonie is looking to highlight some safety tips while you do it.
On Saturday May 7, at the Ciccotti Center and The Crossings of Colonie will be hosting the first ever Tykes on Bikes. The event will be hosted by the National Kidney Foundation, New York State Department of Transportation and the Albany Department of Public to raise awareness of bicycle safety and raise money for patients locally suffering from Kidney and urinary diseases.
We do walks, galas and all other normal fund raising events, but we wanted something specifically made for children at Albany Medical, said Dianna Rios, events and public relations manager for the National Kidney Foundation of Northeastern New York. `100 percent of the money will stay locally.`
The event initially started out as a benefit for Mellissa Daniels, a resident of Schenectady who passed away at the age of 31 at Albany Medical Center due to complications with kidney disease. Rios said she had been in contact with Daniels’ parents, Jeff and Joellen Pepper, owners of CK Cycles in Colonie. They said they wanted to hold a bicycle safety awareness event in honor of their late daughter.
Jeff said that it is bike safety is important for people to know and that everyone should know how to correctly ride a bike. He added that an event that highlights both bike safety and raises money for the National Kidney Foundation is the perfect combination.
`Both are a win-win,` he said. `Bike safety for kids is crazy important and Albany Medical is a wonderful place as well they [the National Kidney Foundation] are just an amazing organization and everything they need help with I try to help.`
The main event is what is called the Bike Rodeo, which will be set up by Bill Van Alstyne, program director for the Albany County Traffic Safety Education program for the Albany County Department of Public Works. Van Alstyne said he tried to recreate some city streets for kids to ride their bikes through.
Safety tips such as riding on the right side of the road, stopping at every street corner, obeying traffic signals and pavement markings and, most importantly, looking left, right and then left again before crossing the street.
`The reason why to look left again is because children have a much narrower field of vision that adults do,` he said. `That’s why I have to address the left. It is the most dangerous because cars drive on the right side of the road.`
Van Alstyne said kids will also go through a series of road tests such as maneuvering through tight spaces, emergency braking and learning how to use hand signals to indicate whether you are stopping or what direction you’e turning.
`The road course is a lot like a 16 year old taking a driver’s education,` he said. `We teach it in a way that kids can understand because kids don’t always have a good perception of traffic.`
Rios said the event will also feature other things such as face painting, appearances by the National Kidney Foundation’s mascot, Sidney the Kidney and the Tri-City Valley Cats will be hosting some activities. This event is a way for the foundation to reach out and meet with the Colonie Community.
With the warmer weather fast approaching, Rios said this is the perfect event.
`I’m really excited about it,` she said. `I’m looking forward to a really great day with the families and the community.“