Bike Rodeo and non-riders

[AnaMaria]

We're kicking off our first pack meeting of the season with a bike rodeo. A mom has e-mailed concerned that her 4th grader doesn't yet ride a bike and might be embarrassed. Any ideas on how to keep the non-riders involved and happy? There will be safety/maintenance stations that don't require riding of course, but it will be apparent that he isn't riding at some point. If it were my child, I'd just talk to him ahead of time and we'd go and do what we could and be matter-of-fact about him not being able to ride a bike. That's not going to cut it with this mom I know and we also have a 5th grade Webelos with Down Syndrome that I'm fairly certain can't ride either. I know we can't gear everything to the least common denominator, but I don't want to embarrass these boys either.

[Curious]

Maybe begin the program by asking if any of the boys would like to volunteer to help administer the event? Assign them to assist in the running of the stations, or maybe serve as runners. Let them participate by "doing you a favor" and then make sure they are kept busy.

[Shilue]

Last summer, my son's pack had a bike rodeo. He was still riding a bike with training wheels, even though he was 7. I'd tried to get him to let me take the training wheels off and work with him on riding without them, but he didn't want to take them off. I figured he'd let me know when *he* felt ready, and even though I felt sure he was, I wasn't going to push him. However, I was all for him going with his training wheels. Most of the pack, with 1 or 2 exceptions, were riding bikes without training wheels. I figured that might be a good incentive.

 

Yes, my son was a little embarassed to be seen still using training wheels. When we got home, he told me that he was ready to try learning without training wheels, so I took them off and worked with him for an hour or 2, and he's been riding just fine ever since.

 

Honestly, this is one time where peer pressure can be a good thing. Incidentally, to the best of my knowledge, none of the other cub scouts said anything or made fun of him. They all accepted that he still had training wheels on and it was fine with them.

 

If they've got bikes with training wheels, I think it'll be ok. Like you said, you can't gear everything down to the least common denominator. If the plan is for a bike rodeo, then have the bike rodeo. If the boys that don't ride choose not to ride, find a job helping out with the stations. Nothing needs to be said about why they aren't riding. Have them do some timekeeping or scoring.