Camp Eagle was a beautiful location for the kick off of the first Kids Kup of the 2007-2008 series, made possible by generous support from REI and Shimano.
Coordinated by Texas Bicycle Coalition and Shimano Youth Series; the BikeTexas Kids Kup events were developed to inspire the next generation of mountain bike enthusiasts as well as introduce children to basic bicycle safety and handling skills. Each Kids Kup event coincides with a Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association (TMBRA) Series event.
At every Kid's Kup event, Bill Payne, the coordinator of the event, presents a basic bike safety and handling skills demo. Camp Eagle also brought in a Naturalist and the children got to meet and learn about snakes, turtles and millipedes. The event was a success with 42 children riding the course.
Huston-Tillotson University SuperCollege Students Visit TBC
Dr. Rozena McCabe, Professor of Kinesiology at Houston-Tillotson University (HTU), teaches under the philosophy that "the student should receive the knowledge through several sensory modalities and that learning is more permanent when students 'do' as well as 'listen'."
This was easily accomplished on a warm sunny Saturday in September as Dr. McCabe brought 15 kinesiology students two blocks down the hill from HTU to the TBC Offices in East Austin. From there, they departed on an eight mile spin with TBC's TREK Hybrids though city streets and on the trail network along the recently renamed Lake Lady Bird in Austin. A bicycle safety training session for hand signals and "rules of the road" was held midway through the ride.
Successful SuperCyclist Training at Lamar Consolidated ISD Kicks Off 2007-08 School Year
Thirty-two additional elementary school teachers joined the BikeTexas SuperCyclist-Certified Club (over three thousand strong) on August 23, 2007, after a fun-filled one-day training at the Terry High School campus in Rosenburg.
Ms. Laura Lyons of the Lamar Consolidated ISD did such a superb job of recruitment for the SuperCylcist Teacher certification. In order to provide a one on one atmosphere, TBCEF staff split the class and brought in two Houston area SuperCylclist field instructors. Frequent laughter could be heard wafting back and forth in the hallway between the two classrooms as the field instuctors each applied their own personal style to the SuperCyclist material.
The Texas Active Living Network (TALN) is a newly formed network including partners from public health, transportation, parks/recreation, community and regional planning, bicycle/pedestrian advocacy, local government, and conservation to support the development of active living communities in Texas.
TALN provides information and education on:
building trails, bikeways, and other transportation, recreation, and conservation infrastructure to encourage active lifestyles for Texans; and
developing and promoting programs to help Texans learn safe and effective ways to participate in physical activity as a part of an active lifestyle.
Once again the Education Service Center for Region XV in San Angelo hosted a SuperCylist Certification for their region teachers. The Education Service Center is a state of the art facility for education. School Health Specialist Jenni Price did a wonderful job making sure the Texas Bicycle Coalition staff had every need met before, during and after the training. Susan Wagner did an excellent job conducting the training.
Scott Seymour, a PE teacher in Stinnett, Texas sent this email afterwards:
“Thanks for the training last week. As I told some of my colleagues, the training that you offered in San Angelo was one of the best I have ever attended and would highly recommend it to my fellow physical educators. I cannot wait to begin teaching the information to my students. I am sure I will be in contact with you throughout the year with questions.
Margaret Charlesworth, a Texas Bicycle Coalition board member, also attended the training. Her years of cycling expertise made the training even more interesting. Margaret is involved with the Sunrise Rotary that sponsors The Biscuit & Gravy Ride in San Angelo.
REI
