A Rodeo Before Fair
Did you know that there are many important events that go on before the fair? There are many things that 4-H'ers must do before the fair that aren't just the projects you see in the ECCC, such as the 4-H Bicycle Club's Rodeo. This event took place on Friday, June 19, a little over a month before the fair.
Outside the Extension Office Building, the 4-H Bicycle Club was given a place to paint lines, set up mini road signs and place cones in preparation for the Rodeo. At the Rodeo the members of the 4-H Bicycle Club are evaluated for their bike skills and knowledge, they prove their understanding over a series of riding obstacles and a written test at the end. The judges evaluate the 4-H'ers and give out ribbons based on how they did. During fair week you can see an exhibit from the Bicycle Club that displays pictures of the members and how they did, along with a few projects about bikes.
Before the Rodeo there was lots of preparation from the leaders, volunteers and members of the club. Leading up to the Rodeo, the 4-H Bike Club members have months to prepare at meetings that are held before the Rodeo. At the meeting they learn basic rules of the road and get to talk and practice skills that are at the Rodeo.
About a week prior to the rodeo the leaders will paint the lines on the asphalt that the bikers will have to ride inside of during the Rodeo. On the day of the Rodeo, cones are set up to help mark where the perimeters are for the 4-H'ers, sponges are set up for an obstacle course and mini road signs are put up for the city road course. Once everything is set up the 4-H'ers start to show up.
When members started arriving, they began registration where everyone was assigned a number so the judges are able to identify each 4-H er before each challenge. After registration and everyone had arrived, they took a picture of the whole club and proceeded to enter the Extension Building to take a written knowledge test. Following the test the Senior (older members) and Junior (younger members) are separated to complete different obstacles.
The Juniors started out with an obstacle called city block, which looked like how roads and road signs would typically look, but smaller. They were guided through the course by the judge who helped them identify road signs and remind them what they should do at each turn to have them keep it in mind for their run by themselves. Meanwhile the Seniors were doing other obstacles like the figure eight, which seemed to be a favorite amongst the seniors, where they needed to bike in a figure eight that was marked on the pavement. They also had to do things like bike between sponges, dodge cones, bike as slow as they could and do an obstacle called stop box where they biked as fast as they could before stopping in a box with the front wheel of their bike.
As time went on the Juniors and Seniors switched. Juniors got to do the obstacles while Seniors did the city block. Eventually everyone finished with their events and the judges went to tally the scores.
For scoring, the biker wants to have the fewest amount of points. You get points by knocking over a cone, going outside of the paved lines, signaling wrong during city block or not answering something correctly on the written knowledge test.
The moment came when the judges had finished tallying the scores and were ready to announce the ribbons everyone had gotten. Seniors got to be given their awards first.
The senior grand champion was Aiden Kelly. Kelly is a six-year member of the Bicycle Club. He felt good about his run at the Rodeo. To prepare for the Rodeo he would go to meetings where they would talk about the rules of the road and sometimes practice inside or outside. This year he has learned better bike skills and sportsmanship. He’s always enjoyed biking and believes that Bicycle Club is a great way to improve biking skills. This is Kelly’s last year in 4-H as he was a senior in high school, but he enjoyed being in Bicycle Club.
Photo: Aiden Kelly turning on one of the corners in city block
Next to be announced were the Junior awards. This category had the most number of bikers in it, so a grand champion was chosen as well as a reserve champion. When it came to the end of the line, the reserve champion was Leander Hartman and the grand champion was Rose Leeper.
Leeper is a five-year member in Bicycle Club. She decided to join because she wasn't interested in many other things but enjoyed biking. She thought that today she did better than usual on the course and was very happy with the outcome. This year she loved making new friends and her favorite obstacle at the Rodeo was the figure eight, but she also liked going around the cones. Leeper will continue to do Bicycle Club because she finds it very fun.
Photo: Rose Leeper dodging around cones to complete one of her favorite obstacle rides
The Rodeo was now over, everyone had gotten their ribbons and got the experience of a bicycle rodeo, whether it was their first or last time. Bicycle Club helps to teach its members basic biking skills and rules that help kids when biking by themselves or with others. It is a fun way of reminding others to bike safely.
Photo: Leander Hartman (Goshen) Reserve Champion Jr. Division, Aiden Kelly (Goshen) Champion Sr. Division, Rose Leeper (Goshen) Champion Jr. Division holding up their ribbons.