#2BFayetteville

NWACC's new program is just one more thread in the cycling tapestry of Northwest Arkansas that colors the rainbow of our vibrant and growing community. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced cycling enthusiast, are looking for a pathway to a career in the cycling industry, or just want to see what the buzz is all about, there's no question that Northwest Arkansas is the place to be. Visit a local bike shop, explore, ask, and be part of the cycling culture that's revolutionizing our community. Rendering of the new BIEA Workshop at nwacc. Taking off the training wheels The cycling culture begins early here in Northwest Arkansas. A host of organizations, camps and K-12 schools offer learn to ride and bike safety programs for students as part of their curriculum, beginning at the kindergarten level. BikeNWA's All Kids Bike PE program, for example, is a learn-to-ride bike course for early elementary children that focuses on balance and transitions to independent pedaling. The program equips schools with everything teachers need to get their students rolling, including bikes, helmets, training, and curriculum. BikeNWA has also partnered with Outride and the Walmart Family Foundation to launch their "Riding for Focus" school- based cycling program for middle school and junior high students. It uses cycling as a tool to achieve academic, health, and social success. The program was rolled out to middle schools in Northwest Arkansas in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. Back in the 1990s, a Fayetteville woman named Laura Kelly became passionate about bicycling. She would do all her shopping and errands by bike, with her son Quinn in a trailer behind her. Kelly formed a nonprofit, the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks (BCO), and eventually directed her efforts towards creating positive cycling associations for children. In 2010 the BCO was awarded a grant from the federal Transportation Alternative Program. With it, Kelly bought 40 bicycles, trailers and helmets, wrote a physical education curriculum and partnered with Fayetteville schools to teach safe bicycling to third through fifth graders. The program would bring bikes to each of Fayetteville's elementary schools for a two-week "Bike Ed" class on bicycle safety, skills and etiquette. Eventually BCO worked with Holly Johnson, communications director for Fayetteville Public Schools, to buy 530 bikes and helmets and expand the Bike Ed program to all students in grades three though 12. Another program and grant from Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield's Blue & You Foundation in 2016 brought the "Bike Fit" program to Fayetteville Public Schools, which, in addition to incorporating bike riding in the physical education curriculum, helped fund construction of soft surface bike trails at six schools in Fayetteville. 11 Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce

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