Kids Bike Rally planned for June

A new Sarnia cycling event for kids is planned for June.

Tristan Bassett with the cycling advocacy group nuSarnia Foundation said she was inspired by a trip last year to Victoria Beach, Man., where there was a bike rally for youngsters.

“It's a large-group scavenger hunt for kids, and they have different pit stops where they have to do different obstacles or activities,” she said.

While events like the Bluewater Cycling Organization's annual Slow Roll have been a good entry point for people to learn more about cycling city streets and pathways, Bassett said she wanted to do an event focused on kids.

“So I kind of took this idea of the bike rally we were part of last summer and morphed it into something we could replicate here in Sarnia,” she said.

The free Kids Bike Rally for youngsters 12 and under is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 15, she said.

Attractions include bike decorating, obstacle courses, and a 3.7-kilometre route including the Howard Watson Nature Trail, a multi-use trail along Wellington Street, and the midtown trail linking it to Lambton College.

Parents and guardians can accompany kids on the loop, where youngsters can collect stamps for an event passport from vendor booths along the way.

“It's really just an opportunity to explore the area,” Bassett said, adding that's one of the event's objectives: “Highlighting some of our really nice off-road cycling paths and trails that . . . families may not know about.”

How many stops isn't clear yet, as the group is seeking non-profits and community organizations to help out, Bassett said.

Details and how to register are at nusarnia.org.

Participation is capped at 100 for the first year, to make the new initiative manageable, Bassett said.

Helmets are required, and riders can do as much or as little of the loop as they like, she said. A northwest section of the Lambton College parking lot will be set aside as a staging area.

There “we'll have the obstacle course set up, the bike decorating station, registration, food, snacks, all that,” she said.