'Save my Bike' Day Kicks Off York's Bike Week

Source: York City Council

Posted: 22nd June

Hundreds of local children learned how to maintain and mend their bikes at a ‘Save my bike day' organised as part of national Bike Week 2009.

This year Bike Week ran from 13 to 21 June and the theme was ‘live local, get cycling'. Kick-starting a busy programme of Bike Week events and activities in York, ‘Save my bike day' took place at Tower Gardens on Saturday 13 June and every child in York was invited to attend! That's a lot of bikes...

During the course of the day, children and their parents attended a series of themed workshops run by local bike shop mechanics entitled ‘Brake time', ‘Wheely good' and ‘Chain gang'. Everyone who took part received a free young mechanic pack, containing discount vouchers for local bike shops, repair manuals and other goodies. The winner of a ‘name the bike part' competition carried off a new bike of their choice from Cycle Heaven and there were shows by a top mountain bike display team throughout the day.

Younger visitors learned how to ‘bling up their bikes' at craft workshops ran by The Bike Rescue Project, which saw recycled bikes decorated with beads and ribbons.

The Cycling City York team were on-hand with free information packs and offered ‘Get back in the saddle' taster rides for parents along riverside cycle paths. Meanwhile, cycling police officers swung by to show off their bikes, as well as offering free security advice.

The event was organised by green transport charity Sustrans, which is one of many partners that together make up Cycling City York.

Sustrans' Bike It events officer, Vicki Hill, said:

"We know children love learning about bikes and anything bike related. Learning how to safety-check their bike and make simple repairs not only saves a lot of money but also gets them interested in the whole issue of cycling generally, as well as giving them a great sense of achievement. Children get really excited when they find out how simple it can be to mend a puncture for example.

"We are especially pleased to have been able to get the famous Trials Display team, who many children will know from their appearances on television."

Vicki added: "Events like this are a lot of fun and a fantastic way of getting everyone that bit closer to switching to two wheels from four!"

For more information on cycling in York visit www.york.gov.uk/cycling