Tag Archive for 'school'

Getting More School Kids on Bikes

Published by Christal Waters on October 1, 2010 in Davis Bicycles! Column. 0 Comments Tags: .
Zoe Chinn enjoyed last springs Bike Loopalooza.

- by Christal Waters

It’s back-to-school, bike-to-school time again.  I am seeing more bikes on the road, heading for my neighborhood elementary schools, and on to the university.   I have seen more children and parents on bikes than in previous years.  All this is good. Studies have shown there is safety in numbers.  Truly, the more people walk and ride their bikes, the safer those walkers and bicyclists are.

Before school starts each day at my neighborhood school, I see bicyclists and pedestrians escorted across the street by the crossing guard, and they proceed across the school grounds to bike parking and classrooms.  The drop-off cars maneuver for space in an unchoreographed dance: One or two drivers pull in perpendicular, rather than horizontal to the curb, and often block the bike lane for UCD students bicycling to class.  How do they see clearly to back out?  For elementary school students being driven to school due to distance, wouldn’t it be easier and safer for all concerned to drive to a nearby business parking area with plenty of room for maneuvering and, from there, join a “walking bus” to school? Continue reading ‘Getting More School Kids on Bikes’

The bike accident in my family

Published by admin on March 28, 2010 in Davis Bicycles! Column. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Fran Keller, the author, hugs her daughter, Rachael, who was hit by a car while riding her bike to school. Rachael sustained a concussion, but recovered.

By Fran Keller

Published in the Davis Enterprise on Fri., March 26, 2010

My daughter Rachael, a Da Vinci High School junior, was hit by a car while riding her bike to school in January. It sounds abnormal. How, in Davis, could someone hit a child riding a bike? At a bike light, too? My children have ridden their bikes to school since the fourth grade. Sometimes they ride with others and sometimes they ride alone.

I have driven my kids to school. Yes, I have gritted my teeth en route to Holmes Junior High and secretly yelled in my head, as I turn onto Drexel from J Street, “What are you doing? Oh my goodness, get out of the road, don’t you see the stop sign? Where is your helmet?” Continue reading ‘The bike accident in my family’

Davis students saving gallons … and bucks

Published by Russell Reagan on March 13, 2010 in Davis Bicycles! Column. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
Dustin Tillman, an elementary school student

Dustin Tillman, an elementary school student, walks to school with his trumpet. He won a prize for most days logged in the Save A Gallon contest in January.

By Trish Price

Published in the Davis Enterprise on Fri., March 12, 2010

Imagine you’re 8 years old and in the third grade at Birch Lane School. What could you possibly do to help save the planet? Maybe more than you think.

“I ride my bike to school every day unless it is raining hard,” says one Birch Lane third-grader. “Even then, I am not driven to school. I walk to school with my mother in rain gear and splash in all of the puddles with my rain boots.”

Hundreds of Davis students are committing to alternative transportation like this student through a citywide contest run by Davis Bicycles!

This school year, the Save A Gallon contest encourages all students in the Davis Joint Unified School District to find an alternative to being driven to school in private, gas-guzzling vehicles. The Save A Gallon contest kicked off in October and has grown to more than 370 loggers who have spared the air some 26 tons of carbon and saved their families about $8,000 on fuel.

Continue reading ‘Davis students saving gallons … and bucks’

Tour de Cluck

Published by admin on February 19, 2010 in Events. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Davis Farm to School is hosting a “Tour de Cluck: Our community bicycle chicken coop crawl” for May is Bike Month. They’ve been taking applications for chicken coop owners around the city that want to share their coop with the community. There will be a self guided tour on May 22nd to various coops that are connected to the Davis Bike Loop. At each coop their will be someone there to give you the lowdown on the chickens, the feed, the clucking and the pecking. Before the crawl starts there will be the greatest chicken event Davis has ever seen at the Farmer’s marker, including a chicken bike parade, fowl food and Chicken Art. Tickets will be available April 5th at several locations. Check out the Davis Farm to School website for more information.