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Kids learn bicycle safety, get helmets

A pedaler at the Saranac Lake bike rodeo Saturday crosses a new wooden bridge on the obstacle course while the safety squad looks on. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Around 100 kids pedaled around in the sun Saturday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center, wearing new helmets supplied by the Saranac Lake Kiwanis Club, riding bikes tuned up by Human Power Planet Earth Bicycle Shop owner John Dimon and practicing hand signals taught by officer Reyanin Brown from the village police department.

Kiwanis Club President Craig Stevens said his group has been organizing the event for more than 20 years, pooling money from fundraising events throughout the year to purchase enough helmets to supply one for every kid who attends. He said they give away around 100 each year.

Some kids bring their old helmets, cracked helmets and some come with none. Kids rode street bikes, mini-BMX bikes and the balance bikes that are increasing in popularity.

When asked why he keeps organizing the event each year, Stevens said it was “Their little smiling faces.”

Officer Brown said the Adirondack Carousel in Saranac Lake donated coupons for a free ride, and Stewart’s Shops donated free ice cream. Bikers received these as Brown taught them hand signals for stopping and turning safely. Then they took off into a course that was set up like a twisting, turning roadway or to an obstacle course with wooden bridges, bumps and see-saws.

Free helmets supplied by the Saranac Lake Kiwanis Club are given away. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

“We honestly don’t have any issues with bicycle safety. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve responded to a bicycle accident,” Officer Luke Cromp said. “People that live here and visit here recognize that it is a bike-friendly village.”

John Dimon, owner of Human Power Planet Earth Bicycle Shop in Saranac Lake, tunes up the brakes on a bike at Saranac Lake’s bike rodeo. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Peyton Smith, left, untangles her bike from a fellow pedaler’s back tire. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

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