Bicycle rodeo

A bicycle rodeo is a clinic to teach children the skills and precautions to ride a bicycle safely.

The Kiwanis clubs originated the idea of teaching bicycle safety to organized groups of children. They set up bicycle lectures which then became bicycle seminars. Eventually, a more hands on approach was used to teach the children and the term bicycle rodeo was adopted. This name is much more attractive to children and helped the events to grow in popularity.

Bicycle rodeos are usually run by local police departments. Police Chief Rosanne M. Sizer of the Portland, Oregon Police Department said, "It's important that our children understand bicycle safety. This is an opportunity for area youth to learn important skills and in the process get to know some of our bicycle, traffic, and reserve officers." The Kiwanis clubs still run rodeos with the police departments. Others who run rodeos are schools, outdoor recreation companies, the Boy Scouts of America, State Farm Insurance, and large bicycle shops or sporting goods stores.

Bicycle Rodeos are usually for the age group of 4–13 years old. The activities that are provided are suitable for each age so that no one is bored during the event. Each rodeo usually begins with a short lecture on bicycle safety and is then followed by a written exam to test the child's knowledge of bicycle use. Each rodeo has some type of a road course; this is usually the children's favorite part of the entire day. Some rodeos have more funding which allows them to build a small town for the children to ride around in as if it were real. This small town is called Safety Town. Throughout the town there are real life situations such as traffic lights, stop signs, pedestrians crossing the streets, and road intersections. The children learn to handle riding their bikes in this life like setting. Rodeos are a popular place for businesses to come and set up booths to sell bike related products and give away gifts to the children. Many times local radio stations will broadcast their shows live from the rodeo and provide music to add to the experience.

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