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03/31/2021 08:30 AMThe Clinton Police Department, Families Helping Families (FHF), and the Bike and Pedestrian Alliance (BPAC) are giving locals a chance to learn more about bike safety—and take home a free bike—at a Saturday, April 17 event running from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Clinton Police Department, 170 East Main Street.
The family-friendly event will be held rain or shine and is open to people of all ages. The day will include a tutorial that covers all aspects of bike safety from members of the Police Department’s Bicycle Patrol Unit. The unit will hold a bike rodeo that will teach kids ways to improve their bike handling skills and safety skills.
Most fun of all, FHF, a local charity that works to improve the lives of people in the Clinton community, will give away bikes and helmets courtesy of Paul Egan, known locally as “the Bike Guy.” Egan has become well known in the Clinton community over the last five years for fixing and donating bikes free of charge.
To date, Egan has donated more than 1,000 bikes. Besides providing new bikes and helmets, at the event Egan will also take trade-in bikes from kids who’ve outgrown their current bike and no longer need it.
If the right size bicycle isn’t available that day, the person’s name and contact info will be taken down and a bike will be supplied when it’s in stock.
The event was created by FHF President Miner Vincent, who said the program is part of FHF’s Clinton Kids Initiative Program that tries to meet the needs of Clinton’s children.
“During the COVID-19 crisis, there was a huge increase in the number of people riding bikes and before the riding season started in full force, we thought would be a good time to have such an event,” said Vincent.
Vincent said teaching bike safety and providing bikes to those who may not be able to afford one are the two main goals of the event.
Police Chief Vincent DeMaio said the department’s bike unit has been around for about 20 years and currently has three officers. DeMaio said the unit can be useful for the increased maneuverability of bikes versus cars, especially in places cars cannot reach.
“We use them a lot when we have events that draw large crowds and a lot of people, because it’s easer to move around sometimes,” DeMaio explained.
Additionally, DeMaio said the unit can help with building relationships between the department and public.
“It’s a lot easier sometimes to approach an officer on a bike if you have a question or need help than it is one in a car, so it can be an easy way to build a relationship,” said DeMaio.
The unit will assist with the rodeo where basic safety precautions will be demonstrated.
Carrie Allen, a member of BPAC, said it was Egan who brought the group’s attention to the event and immediately felt it was smart for BPAC to participate.
“When he brings up something Miner is working on that has to do with bikes, we’re in,” Allen said.
Allen said that BPAC will assist with the bike safety aspect of the presentation and cover simple rules that are important for young riders to understand.
“Children are unlikely to be riding on roads, but we on bikes have to follow the rules of the road like everyone else,” Allen said.
That means following rules like stopping at stop signs, using hands to make turn signals, and not turning out in front of cars.
As the warmer weather comes into our area, Allen said that will correspond with more bikers making use of Clinton’s bike routes. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were reports across the country that the demand for new bikes was extraordinarily high as more people sought new avenues for socially distant recreation. Allen said that Clinton was no exception.
“I saw a bike rack at Eliot the other day with about 15 bikes on it and I thought, ‘Now that’s spring’ and it thrills me to no end,” Allen said of the sight of more people riding. “Kids do bike to school and around and we do want them to be safe.”
Throughout the last year, Allen said she saw more people than normal riding their bikes and she believes it’s a trend that’s here to stay.
“I can’t imagine it’s going to go backwards. Once you get bit by that bug, you just keep going,” Allen said.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the virus, Allen said she thinks the uptick in biking will continue in the 2021 summer as people may still be skittish to return fully to normal.
To top off the day there will be a bake sale and Girl Scout Cookie Sale put on by Brownie Troop 62797 at the same time as the event. For more information, call FHF at 860-669-5592.