Cub Scouts Team Up with Naval Postgraduate School Cycling Club to Learn Bike Skills

Cub Scout Pack 135 from Fort Ord, led by Scott Roper, benefited from the skills of volunteers from the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation Cycling Club on June 2, 2012.

The Cubs, elementary school first to fifth graders, participated in a bicycle rodeo assisted by the NPS cyclists.  The Cubs worked in groups of five to ten boys and girls, and each group rotated through skills stations, where NPS cyclists helped provide instruction.

Skills taught included:

• fitting a helmet and adjusting seat height;
• general bike maintenance—including how to check tire pressure and fill tires; and
• proper hand signaling.

After working through the stations, the groups then took rides of approximately three to four blocks and practiced their hand-signaling skills.

About that helmet…

Major Sheehan is a serious cyclist, but his helmet looks pretty silly!  Here’s what he had to say about that.

“Helmets can look somewhat the same, front and back, at first glance.  Look closer though.  You’ll see that a backwards helmet–like this!– isn’t a good idea.  A backwards helmet cannot cover your forehead, which is very important for protection.“–Major Andy Sheehan demonstrates how not to wear a helmet.

The Cub Scouts conducted an opening flag ceremony with the NPS Cycling Club members as well.

Special thanks to…

Volunteers from the Naval Postgraduate School Cycling Club:  Lieutenant Commander Jeremy Clark (USN); Lieutenant Angela Lefler (USN), Public Affairs Officer for the Cycling Club; Major Andy Sheehan (USAF), Club Sponsorships; Captain Nolan Semrau (USAF), Club President; and Lieutenant Matt Mckenzie (USN), Club Vice President, who made this valuable and fun training possible.

Learn more about Boy Scouts of the Monterey Bay area; click here.

Learn more about the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation Cycling Club; click here.  Learn about the NPS Cycling Club’s Monterey County bike community leadership; click here.

Related info on this site

• California bike laws and personal safety–with tips for kids (includes links to hand-signaling illustrations and tips)
• Bicycling Carmel–Children growing up streetwise
• Salinas youth and others for bikes:  Bikes make life better
• Bicycle culture and youth
• Bike safety and other biking resources in Spanish
• Teaching Children Well:  Bike safety and bike tech education
• Children and Teens section of this site (access it above the banner anytime!)

Consider that many kids in our county can’t afford bikes; maybe you can help.