SHELBY — The kids’ bike clinic at Shelby’s annual Bicycle Days festival on Saturday gave children the opportunity to learn hands-on bike tuning skills.
Rider safety during the summer months was also taught while kids navigated the obstacle course setup on the Seltzer Park tennis courts.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Civista Bank and Hess Industries joined forces to host the kids’ bike clinic and bike decorating contest.
Kids could receive a free bike decorating kit, courtesy of Civista Bank, and participate in the bike decorating contest. Kits included a variety of patriotic decorations.
The top three bikes were chosen as winners, but all attendees of the clinic and contest were invited to ride along in the festival parade to show off their hard work.
Felicia Albert, a physical therapist at Nationwide Children’s, has organized the clinic and contest for the past six years. Co-chair of Bicycle Days festival in 2018, 2019 and 2020, this was Albert’s 10th total year on the Bicycle Days committee.
“Watching the kids do the obstacle course is definitely the most fun,” she said.
Each year Albert tries to variate the obstacles setup for the kids to navigate for a new and exciting feel.
“This year they had a few different paths that they could choose to take,” she said. “Watching kids go through that and gain a little more confidence with their bikes is always fun.”
Another resource available at the clinic was a bike tune-up station. Mark Hess, owner of Hess Industries, and Nelson Shogren, bike technician at Dick’s Sporting Goods, provided help to young cyclists who needed some work done to their rides.
“They (Hess and Shogren) fix all of our kids’ bikes. They do their tires, brakes, handlebars, chains, all of that,” Albert said.
Amanda Medley led the organization of the bike decorating event, putting together the kits for kids to outfit their bicycles with.
Nationwide Children’s also provides a free helmet to riders who may not have one.
“We want to make sure that kids are safe riding, so they go through safety rules of the road,” Albert said, making sure kids feel comfortable and safe cycling on the roads around town.
The kids’ bike clinic and decorating contest have become staples of the annual community festival and are amongst 2023 Bicycle Days co-chair Katlyn Niese’s favorite activities available during the two-day event.
