Bike to School Day on Tuesday, June 4th is an ongoing, growing campaign that was initiated a number of years ago and with the coming of 2019’s Bike to School day, has spread to most Calgary area schools and is expected to have thousands of kids riding their bikes to school!

At Bike to School Day, getting kids active and engaged with the outdoors, their bikes, and each other is a huge goal of ours. With the digital world becoming more and more interlaced with our world, it is important to remember the small initiatives that can keep you healthy and grounded. Bike to school day is a project that encourages students and their parents to take part in  and build a healthy lifestyle while also showing them that it is fun and beneficial to do so.

BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY – Sven Stuwe

In 2013, I started bike riding again after a 21 year hiatus. My motivation was for myself but also to be in good shape to keep up with our four year old growing son. In September of that year, with the help and encouragement from another parent and her daughter, my son got onto a trail-a-bike connected to my bike and we started biking to and from his school. Doing that was terri?c, but I noticed that not very many school kids were riding their bikes to school when weather permitted. It left me wondering why.

In the spring of 2014, I stumbled upon a Twitter post that talked about Bike to School Day being put together by a junior high school teacher by the name of Kyle Stewart because he noticed that kids weren’t active enough in their lives. That ?rst Bike to School Day, instead of only a dozen or so kids biking, there were 70 kids that rode to school. I was thrilled!The next year we hit 200 kids biking to school. The third year with the community association involved, it bumped up to 250+ kids biking. This year the goal is to have more than half of the 700 students ride their bikes to school.

The after e?ects of Bike to School Day over the years has seen a natural increase of kids biking to school. Some kids ride in small groups, others with their parents on their bikes. Seeing that brings back memories of my childhood bike riding days but, even more so, it reminds me of the sense of freedom it gave me.

Over the last six years, my son and I have ridden to and from his school together. It was, and still is, wonderful time together to talk, see neighbors, discover our community and nature, and get some exercise. We’ve enjoyed ourselves immensely and we have some incredible memories together. On any busy work day, it has been these moments of cycling with my son that I have cherished immensely.

So, I’d like to encourage all of you, with school aged children this Bike to School Day on June 4th, to step away from your cars for a moment, climb onto a bike and ride with your kids to school. Besides the health bene?ts & the reduced vehicle tra?c that will improve our kids safety, it makes getting to school fun. It’s a moment of family time, adventure, discovery, connecting the community and the world around us. Let’s make riding a bike a wonderful option for our kids, and for those parents that can, an enjoyable moment of family time.