Please check out www.bsafe24.com for more information on how to support BSAFE.

Sincerely, 

Chris Ghiorse

BSAFE (Bicycle Safety Awareness For Everyone) aims to provide free cycling education and events for all levels and abilities.  During the school year BSAFE focuses primarily on 8-10 year old children, because studies have shown that the highest incidence of bike related accidents happen in the 11-12 year old age group.

The festival grounds provide the ideal area to teach and learn, thankfully I had some fantastic volunteers;

Since starting the BSAFE (Bicycle Safety Awareness For Everyone) program in October 2008 BSAFE has managed to touch the lives of many children.   Some of the accomplishments of this free program are:

Over 700 students have participated in a Level 1 class; ages 8 to 11, each of these students was given a helmet upon completion of the course.

Over 250 children have taken part in Learn to Ride weekends; ages 3 to 14.

Over 150 children participated in the Buzzbee race series; ages 5 to 15.

BSAFE has given away over $40,000 worth of equipment; bikes, t-shirts and most notably helmets.  One may ask why I have I given so much away? 

We registered 23 children who were under 6 which made for a very entertaining and fun-filled day.  The logistics of trying to get all these younger children riding went fairly smoothly with the lessons spread throughout the day.  A number of parents brought their own child’s bike, but there were still a few points where I had to ask a rider who only just learned to surrender their bike to teach another.  Luckily BSAFE received 2 additional 16” bicycles, which were donated by parents whose children had outgrown them.  BSAFE now has 4 of these bikes and is looking for another 4 to facilitate this type of clinic. 

The following 3 photos show how it all works for a youngster...sometimes in less than 15 minutes

First you practice pedalling... 

Besides the bikes the key is also to have some fit volunteers to get the children through the first phase of learning.  Gareth Thomas, John Shirley, Richard Morgan and Lloyd Duberry helped all the riders get to the point where they could then practice with their parents or ride on their own.  In general the parents were very keen to help and take over once they saw how easy and well the method works.  The idea is to get the child riding using his or her own balance and the helper is there to keep them upright, by supporting the body rather than the bike.

The most notable achievement came from 2year-10month old Keiner Montilla who was helped onto a bike that was a bit big for him and then he just rode away! No teaching involved there, pure instinct.  Keiner’s parents’ challenge will be to make him understand why he has to stop.

This group will get to ride until the end of June.

Althea Scatliffe students teamed in pairs and ready to ride!

By the end of the day we had seen 45 children take part in either the Learn to Ride or safe riding practice.   Thankfully I had some fantastic volunteers; BVICyclists, GarethThomas and Clifton Forbes were great with helping children balance.  The primary way to get a child riding is by following and being their “balance wheels”.  I could not have had such a successful day without Rotaractors Sheriece Smith, Lloyd Duberry and Abbi Christopher, who helped in all areas. 

It was a great family day and there were many cheers and shouts when children got their first solo pedal strokes in.  Many parents were very keen to help when they realized I wanted them too.  Once I showed them the number one tip for teaching, which is “balance the rider not the bike”, they were almost as excited as the kids.  One parent said to me “I did not think it would be this easy to teach my son how to ride.” 

Althea Scatliffe Group 5 

With over 650 students having participated in the Level One Program taught by BSAFE there are a lot of children with helmets.  I now plan to offer a Level 2 course wherein the students will already have their helmets and I can build off of what they have already learned.  Although I have been severely hindered by the shortfall of funding, I need to continue with the program to maintain the student interest as well as keep up the exposure I have promised BSAFE’s private sector sponsors.

Althea Scatliffe Group 6 

Last week I conducted a survey of class 4 and 5 students at Althea Scatliffe Primary.  Of the 202 children surveyed, over 95% expressed interest in participating in some form of cycling offered by BSAFE.  With this sort of enthusiasm I really can not give up, but I have to figure out how to secure more funding.    

Althea Scatliffe Group 7 

BSAFE (Bicycle Safety Awareness For Everyone) is a free afterschool bicycle education program designed to build awareness of a student’s riding environment.  The program targets class three children because, statistically, children tend to have more bicycle related mishaps when they get a little older. 

BSAFE only exists because of the generous support of its sponsors.  If you or your company would like to find out how to support the BSAFE program contact Chris Ghiorse at chris@bsafe.vg

This year we had mostly 4 to 6 year old children signed up for the “learn to ride” sessions.  BSAFE only owns one bike small enough for that age group so I had to be careful of how I booked the lessons. Although the area near the cruise ship dock is not ideal for learning, I still got 90% of all the kids “officially riding”. Officially riding means: starting, riding and stopping on your own initiative.  By the end of the weekend a parent had made a donation of their son’s 16” bike which will enable me to work with more young riders the next time I do a “learn to ride” weekend.

Students practicing their pedal stroke

BSAFE also organized a skills session for some students who had multi-speed bikes. 

Jenena Lloyd deserves special mention.  She could not ride at the start of the classes, by the time she graduated she was leading her group through the most complicated drills.  There has been only one other student, of the 600 plus, I have worked with that has achieved such a feat.  I now realize this is something unique and I hope she maintains her interest in the sport.”

  Althea Scatliffe's Graduating Group 4 

I feel the knowledge and awareness these students have gained while riding in this class will

The private sector has continued to be very generous and all the sponsors from last year Caribbean Alliance Insurance, their agents Caribbean Insurers, Burke’s Garage, Ogier and PricewaterhouseCoopers have stayed on board with their commitment to supporting BSAFE.