Parkside Elementary School Students join the Bike Bus, a group bike ride for kids and families to bike to school together. (Matthew Pearson / WABE)
On National Bike to School Day, an early May day, two dozen kids and parents whiz down the bike lane on United Avenue under a pink-tinged morning sky.
Andrew Francis rides a white cargo bike at the head of the pack. He is impossible to miss, wearing a neon green T-shirt that reads “Parkside Bike Bus.” Other matching shirts speckle the crowd.
“The kids are happier. They’re not stuck in the car on the way to school,” he said.
“They’ve got a little exercise in the morning. Even when they’re grumpy, when they get on their bike, they’re usually happy by the time they get here.”
The group collects another few riders as they ride closer to Parkside Elementary, with Foster closely supervising all of the energetic students.
Andrew Francis leads the Parkside Bike Bus, a group bike ride for kids and families to get to school. (Matthew Pearson / WABE)
“Do not take off on me; I am the front,” the guardian instructed. “Please stay behind me. There’s a lot of you this morning so give each other plenty of space. Can I get a yes, sir?”
Some kids let out a measly response.
“Can I get a yes, sir?” he asked again, trying to make sure everyone is paying attention.
“Yes, sir!” the kids all shouted in unison back.
The Francis family got some families together last year to start Parkside’s Bike Bus, which runs every Friday. However, many families bike to school throughout the week on their own.
“It’s a safe way for them to learn to run the neighborhood, meet their neighbors,” Francis notes. “We have, on average, anywhere from 40 to 60 kids riding every Friday morning.”
And he says that the more kids rode over the year, the more confident they became.
The bike leader cites his own son, Foster, as an example. The first grader’s chain slipped off his bike’s chainrings, but he stopped to put it back together himself.
“I think there’s this notion that Atlanta is very anti-cyclist, and from an infrastructure point of view, that could be argued in some places, but the infrastructure’s getting better,” the elder Francis said. “As more people ride, drivers are just more aware of us.”
Parkside Elementary School Students join the Bike Bus, a group bike ride for kids and families to bike to school together. (Matthew Pearson / WABE)
Multiple groups of the bike bus combined on the road in front of the school.
By the time everyone rolls up to Parkside Elementary, Francis says there are probably about 70 kids locking their bikes in front before heading to the pavilion to grab a donut and celebrate Bike to School Day.
“It’s kind of how we think of ‘The Sandlot,’” he said. “Everybody gets out of school, gets their bikes and they ride home in a cloud of dust. That’s the goal.”
