Children in Barcelona have started a Friday biking ‘movement’. Countries around the world should follow by example!
By MariaVictoria Garcia – Rider Experience Specialist
Who here remembers going to school with the school bus every day? Having to wake up every morning really early, walking to the bus station in the cold and having to wait for the bus that was always, unexplicably late. When it would finally arrive, you would step on it, only to find it filled with screaming kids leaving no space for your thoughts. Not to mention the awkwardness of having to look for an empty seat when your loyal ‘bus buddy’ was not there. This experience was definitely not what you would define a great start of the day.
The citizens of Barcelona must have had the same reasoning process when they decided to start a new tradition. What began with five children, now become quite literally a popular ‘movement’. Every Friday, hundreds of kids wake up, hop on their bicycles and join their friends in a collective bike ride to school. In this way, they are not only granted their own ‘seat’ in the school bus, but they can exercise before school.
There are endless health benefits related to biking in the morning: first and the most obvious one, it wakes your body up. By the time they get to school, the kids won’t feel as drousy as when they just woke up from a nap in the bus. This will also lead to higher concentration levels and performance in school. Moreover, doing sport will strengthen their immune system and reduce their chances of getting sick. Finally, biking with their peers can create a strong sense of community and provide them with a sense of independence.
It is well known that in the Netherlands, kids regularly cycle to school but it is nice to see other countries following suit. Electric cargo bikes can also be a suitable alternative if parents with small children want to join in on the trend. Until the kids are old enough to cycle by themselves, they can just hop in their parents’ e-cargo bike box and soak in the fresh air before arriving at school.
Making use of an electric cargo bike rather than using a car, will create new family bonding opportunities. Parents can dedicate the extra time of biking to their children and listen to their stories in the morning. If you ask us, there is nothing better than spending time with your family and/or friends first thing in the morning. And the electric component of the cargo bike definitely makes it more enjoyable 😊
We hope this story inspired some of you to follow the example set by Catalan (and Dutch) children. It would be amazing if we could soon see children around the world riding to school together.