Ladies and gentlemen, start your pedals… a member of the W&OD bike patrol paces youngsters negotiating lanes. Photo by Donna Manz.
Those children on Mill Street on Saturday, the ones in the parking lot across from the Town Green surrounded by Vienna police officers, were not being charged with a traffic violation. They were, instead, being guided around a training course by Vienna police in Vienna’s 2nd Annual W&OD Safety and Bike Rodeo sponsored by the Town of Vienna Bicycle Advisory Committee, Friends of the W&OD and local civic groups and businesses.
While sponsor tents were set up on the Town Green, the bike rodeo itself was conducted across Mill Street in a parking lot of Vienna Presbyterian Church. Cones and marked lines delineated courses that challenged the concentration of the children participating. Both Vienna police officers and W&OD bike patrol members worked with the children.
Besides the rodeo, activities included a trail safety mini-workshop for women run by the Vienna Police Department and a team scavenger hunt on the Town Green.
THE BIKE RODEO offered free things to children, as well as free activities. Safe Kids USA, through INOVA Trauma Center, fitted and gave out 200 new bicycle helmets to children. Whole Foods of Vienna handed out healthy-food bag lunches to children free of charge. Elevation Burger and Diamond Spa awarded prizes to activity winners.
Counted among the sponsors of the Town of Vienna’s BAC rodeo were Bikes@Vienna, Extreme Pizza, Friends of W&OD Bike Patrol, Healthy Kids Coalition, NVRPA, Safe Kids USA, Whole Foods, Vienna Police Department, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department and other Vienna businesses. To learn more about the town’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, go to www.ViennaBAC.com.