READY TO RIDE Launches in Lakewood
Ready To Ride kicked off on Wednesday August 21st in Madison park. The event was the inspired idea of Lakewood residents Tricia and Scott Gogol who brought the idea to reality with the assistance of Jennifer Smillie from the Village Bicycle Cooperative.
Ready To Ride focused on educating kids (18+under) about how to properly maintain their bicycles and ride safely in the community. On hand were mechanics from Joy Machines, Bike Lakewood, and Village Bicycle Cooperative that offered free inspections as well as performed any minor repairs possible with the tools on hand; including brake tune ups, tire patching, and even a new seat.
The kids we able to interact one on one and watch up close as the mechanics went over their check lists and made repairs. Each of the more than 30 kids that participated also received an informational safety sheet, stick on reflector, mini band aid kit, sample chain lubricant, a pass for a free game of bowling at Mahall’s Twenty Lanes and the chance at raffle prizes.
The raffle included seven refurbished bicycles donated by the Village Bicycle Co-op, a brand new backpack, a four pack of vouchers to a performance at Beck Center for the Arts, and lots of smiling faces.
The overall intent of the event was to see what kind of interest the community had in an event like this and determine if the event would be worthwhile on a larger or more frequent scale. Based on Wednesday’s turn out it looks like we can expect to see Ready To Ride again in the future!