Seventy-five Boulder Elementary School students participated in the first-ever Big Rock Bike Rodeo on Thursday, June 22, learning about bike and road safety.
The event was organized by Deputy David Kosola of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and featured a collaboration between Boulder Ambulance and the Montana Highway Patrol.
Participants gathered on the Boulder Elementary School playground, eager to rodeo. After some brief instructions from their teachers and Kosola, the bikers shot out of the chutes traveling down East 4th Avenue with smiles on their faces.
Once on the Montana Highway Patrol campus, the riders received a bike safety demonstration from highway patrol officers, which included how to properly use hand signals.
Riders then made a quick pit stop – manned with a crew of county workers – where tires were reinflated, training wheels were tightened and handlebars were straightened. With their bikes in tip-top shape, the riders were ready for the roughstock event before them: a race through an obstacle course.
Throughout the course, riders pedaled across uneven ground, weaved between cones, dodged tennis ball “rocks” and avoided the occasional deer bounding across the field.
“This has been an interesting event,” Kosola told The Monitor, adding that the inaugural event in Boulder has been a longtime in the making.
Kosola had previously attempted to organize a bike rodeo in Boulder in 2022, but conflicting schedules among troopers and the sheriff’s department stopped it from coming to fruition. A smaller event in Basin with 10 riders, went on without a hitch, Kosola said.
Regardless of the difficulties organizing the 2022 event, Kosola’s concern for the children pushed him to continue pursuing this year’s event. So much so that he started planning the rodeo in April to ensure schedules would align.
“We’ve got to make sure we take care of our kids,” Kosola said, adding that both kids and their parents need to be safety minded.
Kosola said he’s especially concerned about Boulder kids’ safety when crossing Main Street on their bikes to get to the city pool or while participating in the rising activities this summer.
The event also provided students with the opportunity to interact with emergency responders while exploring their patrol cars and ambulances – something a lot of kids haven’t had the opportunity to do before, Kosola said.
Parents, community members and local businesses assisted with the event, donating bikes for students who didn’t have them.
Boulder Elementary School teacher Stacey Peterson, along with several other teachers, participated in the event helping students around the obstacle course balance and pedal up inclines. Looking over the kids biking, playing and exploring, Peterson expressed pride in the Boulder community: “It’s good to see community members come together and ask ‘what do you need.’”
