‘A lifelong opportunity for kids.’ Riding bikes is the perfect exercise for students

The gym class at Pioneer Trail Middle School is about to get a new twist. Students won’t just be running on a track or playing basketball. Now, thanks to a special grant, they’ll get to ride bicycles at school.

Courtesy of a Riding for Focus grant from Outride, a cycling non-profit, the school is receiving a classroom set of 30 Specialized brand mountain bikes and helmets. The other key part of the grant provides a curriculum for teachers to use with the bikes and training for two teachers.

The grants are especially focused on providing opportunities to use bikes in schools where more students are on the free and reduced lunch program.

“(We can) give that opportunity to kids that have never had the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike or had the means. Some parents at our school, they don’t have the means to go out and purchase a bike,” said physical education teacher Rey Vidaurri.

All 650 students at the school will get the opportunity to ride the bikes. Each bike retails for approximately $800 to $1,000.

Brandon Simpson, the adaptive physical education teacher in Olathe who applied for the grant, views this as a chance to teach kids physical exercise that will stick with them.

“I see this as a lifelong opportunity for kids. Not everybody plays football, not everybody plays basketball for their entire life, but grandpas can take their grandkids on bike rides. That’s what I see as an awesome opportunity for people that get into cycling, like myself,” Simpson said.

Simpson credits BikeWalkKC for helping him through the grant application process.

He had hoped to have the bikes earlier this school year, but with all the pandemic-related supply chain hiccups, it’s taking longer than he expected.

“They’re close to being on their way. This is a running joke with me and the P.E. teachers. The process was supposed to be done last March. We were supposed to get bikes maybe July or August and then it was pushed back to November. And then it was pushed back to December,” Simpson said. “When we get the bikes, we’ll be excited.”

Upon receipt of the bikes, Simpson is getting help from the KCCX Elite Cyclocross Team in Olathe to assemble them.

The gym classes won’t just be focused on the mechanics of actually riding a bike. A lot of the instruction will focus on safety, figuring out map routes and even making simple bike repairs.

Of course, the physical benefits of riding the bikes are only one element of the equation.

“A huge part of it is the mental wellness side of it — of, ‘Hey, I’m outside riding a bike. The sun’s shining on my face. It’s a beautiful day,’ ” Simpson said.

Through previous school biking programs with BikeWalkKC, Simpson has seen immediate benefits. Lots of kids come into classes like this not knowing how to ride a bike.

“The confidence they gained was incredible. And then freedom: If you give a kid a bike and teach him a little bit of safety rules, he no longer has to stay within his one little square block. That gives you miles upon miles upon miles that you can ride,” Simpson said.

Although Simpson was the driving force behind the grant, he isn’t a regular gym teacher at Pioneer Trail. Rey Vidaurri, who also helped with the grant, is one of the teachers offering the Riding for Focus curriculum to the students.

He has plans to make a biking trail on school grounds for kids to use during classes. However, with this set of bikes at the school, he’s also got his sights set on improving participation in the school’s triathlon.

“The kids have to bring a bike in, they have two weeks, we have prep, and they get to train,” Vidaurri said.

With the school bikes available, kids don’t have to bring a bike of their own to participate in the bike leg of the triathlon.

“It’s just another opportunity for us to do another type of program and get away from the traditional games and the traditional sports and show them there are other avenues for them to participate in. It’s offering them something they couldn’t get somewhere else,” Vidaurri said.

He hopes to hold the triathlon, which had been an annual event, twice a year now. As for the class lessons with the bikes, he’s planning on having bike units four or five times a year.

This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘A lifelong opportunity for kids.’ Riding bikes is the perfect exercise for students."