A new program to instill skills and confidence to ride a bicycle safely in Windsor-Essex.
Bike Windsor Essex will be launching their Safe Spokes program this spring, which is an eight week spring cycling program that equips local riders with the skills, confidence, and equipment to ride safely in the region.
The program consists of one social evening, two workshops and five rides throughout different municipalities in Windsor-Essex.
The first 30 riders will be equipped with free CAA lights, a U-lock, and a helmet, however if there's more than 30 people interested, they can tag along with the rides and workshops.
Zoe Beaulieu, Education Coordinator with Bike Windsor Essex, says at the end of the day, it's about safety.
"A lot of what we hear in the bike shop is that people don't feel safe, or they don't know what the rules of the road are, they don't want to go out by themselves the first time riding on the road, and so what we are hoping to do through this program is to help build those skills, and to go out with you and show you how we do it, and how riding is in the community."
She says there's a lot included in the program.
"One social evening where we'll go over the rules of the road, how your helmet is supposed to fit, how to check your bike. We'll then have two workshops, one is going to be a roadside flat repair in case you ever get stuck, you know what to do. The second workshop is going to be a spring bike tune-up, so we'll tune-up your bike, we'll show you how to do it. Then, we'll have five rides."
Beaulieu says those interested range from teenagers to seniors.
"We have lots of other programming at the Bike Kitchen as well, and this is very consistent with our other programs. We see kids that are in here learning how to fix bikes because they want to get to school, but we also have lots of older people who are like 'hey, I have lots of time on my hands, I want to take the scenic route, I want to stay active'."
Applications will be accepted until end-of-day March 22.
The selected participants will be notified on March 24.
Those looking to sign up can do so by clicking here.