Biking in P.E. might be my favorite time of year. Being a cycling enthusiast myself, I enjoy watching kids fall in love with biking and all that it can teach you. Here are just a few of the lessons learned this week:

Biking is all about balance. You must maintain a focus and look where you want to go. If you stop paying attention you might end up somewhere you hadn’t planned.

A bike needs maintenance. If you ignore putting air in the tires or grease on the chain, you have to work much harder. It is like listening to our own bodies. Ignoring an injury or not fueling up before exercise can make things a lot more difficult than they need to be.

You have to learn to trust yourself. Riding a bike is all about taking risks. One of the first graders rode without training wheels for the first time this week. It took him a few minutes to decide if he wanted to take them off, but once they were off there was no looking back. The older students had the opportunity to try riding on a see-saw, which at first glance looks pretty daunting but there were only shouts of enthusiasm when they reached the other side.

Camaraderie. This was a common theme of the week both on and off the bike. The older students rode together to challenge themselves while Kindergarten students came out to cheer along the older riders.

Overcoming obstacles. You have to get back up when you fall. Falling is almost an inevitable part of riding a bike. Sometimes the fall can be pretty scary and it is tough to gather the courage to get back in the saddle. But once you overcome an obstacle like a fall it only makes you stronger.

Hard work makes you feel good. Even though it takes a lot of physical and mental effort to get up a long climb, I  have never gotten to the top and thought “hmmm I really wish I hadn’t of done that”. I could see the kids felt the same about the duathlon. Hard work was plastered on many of the faces during the event but they were all smiles at the finish.

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