By Jens Erik Larsen
Due to the COVID-19 crises, the Danish Government gave money to local authorities to sponsor summer-activities for children and youngsters. The idea was to give back some knowledge and social life due to the loss from when the schools were closed.
At school, you probably do not learn to repair a bicycle even though it could be very useful, and it is also a good idea for children and young people to be able to maintain their bicycle themselves in order to be more aware of resources and to be more happy with cycling!
So, we decided to offer two courses, one for 7-14 years old and another for 14-17 years. The parents were welcome to participate too, which several of them did.
The location was the farm, where I live in municipality Gribskov north from Copenhagen and beside myself also my son Jon Roslyng Larsen was teaching – he knows much more about bicycles than me!
We started with a round table to hear about how the participants use their bike and what experiences they had with repair and maintenance Then we went to adjustment of the bike, saddle height, distance to handlebars etc. Mandatory equipment, check of all bikes.
Later we looked at maintenance incl. washing, lubrication, adjustment, tire pressure, tightening of screws, necessary tools. Everyone had to take wheels and tires off and patching.
Break and joint talk and further need for knowledge. Finally we talked about cycling opportunities in Gribskov Municipality, cycling maps and useful Apps.
We were together with the children for 4 hours each day and had a cosy time. We felt that they learned something. A mother wrote a message to me after the course, that her boy of 12 years seldom had been so happy as when he came home after this event!
