Last Saturday Franklin Park hosted Rock, Roll and Ride, a community bike festival held on the road between White Stadium and the Zoo’s Giraffe Entrance. The event was a who’s who of the local bicycling community: Boston Bike, DotBike, JP Bikes, Rozzie Bikes, and Bikes not Bombs were all on hand with free bike rentals, helmets, tune-ups and goodies.
Folks were encouraged to ride in from around the neighborhood. If anyone lacked a bike, they could rent one for free. Kids participates in a bike safety obstacle course complete with cardboard “cars” driven by volunteers.
Several members of FPC staff, including myself, were there to help. I was very grateful for the free tune-up, which my hand-me-down purple, girl bike desperately needed. Thanks Bikes not Bombs for straightening my front wheel! Now if I could only do something about the paint job…
Volunteers led rides into the Wilderness trails or around White Stadium. The rides were an opportunity to introduce the community to FPC and the work of the Youth Crew. Nothing gets people to support our work quite like a field of knotweed choking a bike path.
On one ride I saw a boy, no more than 10 years old, lag behind. I rode up to discover him kicking helplessly at the ground, unable to drift more than a couple of yards without tipping over. Jordan, as it turned out, had only ridden once before. I gave him a few lessons at the basketball court. After 10 minutes, he was able to ride by himself for about 10 seconds at a time. When Jordan enters fifth grade this fall, I expect him to be riding circles around me.
If you missed out on Rock Roll and Ride don’t worry, it will be held again on Saturday, July 24th on Meridian Street Bridge in East Boston from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Happy riding!
