WEYBURN – Young bike riders will get the chance to ride with the police in the upcoming Weyburn Parade, by attending the Weyburn Police Service’s bike rodeo on Wednesday, June 29.
The bike rodeo will be held in Jubilee Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and all ages are welcome to attend with no preregistration required.
As the bike rodeo will be making use of the sidewalk system in the park, riders need to enter it from the parking lot of the Credit Union Spark Centre, said organizer Const. Melinda Mintenko, who noted the Young Fellows Club has given them permission to do this while they are setting up for their big centennial concert on June 30th.
“They will come up the sidewalk to the registration table first and get their bike checked out. We want to make sure their bikes are up to snuff,” she said, plus the riders will have the fitting of their helmets checked, with all riders encouraged to wear one.
Once they are through these stations, each bike rider gets to ride the skills course to show their abilities to ride safely. There will be representatives from SGI who will talk to riders on various safety aspects they should be aware of, and will include testing bike riders on intersection safety and driveway safety.
For those who would like to try, Const. Mintenko is hoping to have a ramp set up, to teach about safety aspects riders need to be aware of on a ramp or curve.
There will also be an “Eye Spy” course to test how observant a rider is, and give-aways and snacks will be available as well.
At the end of the course, the Salvation Army will be on hand to provide a barbecue for all of the participants, and there will be a bike decorating station where volunteers will help riders to decorate their bicycles.
Const. Mintenko said the hope that the riders will come to ride with the police in the parade the next morning, on Thursday, June 30. If some of the riders are young, they will recommend that a parent or guardian accompany them in the parade, she added.
She noted the plan at this point is to start near the front of the parade at Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue North. They will ride down to about the Court House on Prairie Avenue and Third Street, and the riders can take a break there and be able to watch the rest of the parade.
Const. Mintenko is looking for more volunteers to help organize the bike rodeo, especially if they have bike expertise, plus she invites anyone who has ideas of other features that could be incorporated into the event to give her a call at the Weyburn police station and let her know.
