- April 15, 2024
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Event and Promotions Manager Mandy Rossmeyer places a helmet on a Cabram Sampson. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Daytona Harley-Davidson Event and Promotions Manager Mandy Rossmeyer places helmets on the donated Strider bikes. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
TheDaytona Harley-Davidson family: Operations Manager Will Rossmeyer, President Sandy Rossmeyer, Event and Promotions Manager Mandy Rossmeyer, and General Manager Shelly Rossmeyer Pepe. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Event and Promotions Manager Mandy Rossmeyer shows students how to use the Strider bikes. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Charlie Howells is all smiles after trying out one of the Strider bikes. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
McCartney Biletto tries out a Strider bike. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Johnathan Smiley tries out a Strider bike. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Safety first! Before trying out the bikes, Piper McClafferty Johnathan Smiley, Molly Ravish and Ana Semenenko were given helmets to wear. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
It's as easy as riding a bike.
Except, the number of children riding bicycles in the U.S. is on the decline, according to All Kids Bike, an organization that aims to teach kindergarteners how to ride a bike through the placement of learn-to-ride programs into public schools' physical education classes. And thanks to Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Harley-Davidson and Destination Daytona, kindergarteners at Ormond Beach Elementary will be able to benefit from such a program.
The business raised $5,000, the cost for the program, at its Builder's Breakfast event held during Bike Week 2022, where custom builders customized STACYC electric bicycles and auctioned them off, said Event and Promotions Manager Mandy Rossmeyer. This was the second year the Builder's Breakfast has supported the addition of an All Kids Bike program to a local school. In 2021, Daytona Harley-Davidson helped bring it to Osceola Elementary.
"Bikers are very generous people," Rossmeyer said. "... We had people coming from out of our area here to help raise money for a local school and for our community, which I think is great."
On Friday, April 29, OBE's kindergarteners were led to the front of the school to see the Rossmeyer family standing near 25 Strider bikes. These kinds of bikes allow the children to begin learning to ride on a balance bike, and once they are ready, pedals can be added.
According to All Kids Bike, the program has been funded nationwide in 563 schools, impacting over 78,000 students as of March 31. In the state of Florida, 18 schools are running the kindergarten PE program, meaning over 12,000 students will learn to ride a bike in school.
As a former PE teacher, Rossmeyer said she feels it's important for kids to go outside and be active. Knowing how to ride a bike is a step towards encouraging that, and the All Kids Bike program also provides helmets, as well as training and curriculum for teachers.
Originally, Rossmeyer said they were looking into just donating bikes to local schools, but doing it with the All Kids Bike program has proved to be more significant because of the focus on the kindergarten age group, she said.
"The goal of All Kids Bike is to get every kid in America riding a bicycle by the time they get out of kindergarten, which in turn hopefully gives them a reason to love to ride and to one day come buy a motorcycle. I mean, that's our ultimate goal, is to get people on two wheels, you know?" said Rossmeyer with a laugh.
Plus, Ormond Beach Elementary holds a place in her heart: It's where she went to school as a kid. She was excited to see the students' reactions
"It's going to feel good to actually see the work that we did and see the outcome," Rossmeyer said.
