By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Students at the New York Mills School District have been getting their use out of the bike fleet this spring. The fleet, which is shared with the Henning School District, was made possible through PartnerSHIP 4 Health, a statewide health improvement organization.

On Wednesday, May 7, Jeff Rimpila, former phy. ed. teacher in NY Mills and bike fleet coordinator, took the fourth grade students on a ride around town for National Ride Your Bike to School Day. The group practiced their bicycle skills including shifting gears and using hand brakes in preparation for their field trip to Glendalough State Park. High school students Brock Ruther and Isaac Geiser assisted with each group.

“That’s what I’m doing with the second and third graders now,” said Rimpila, “Trying to get them on bikes so they know how to shift and use hand brakes, because a lot of the kids don’t have hand brakes of shifting.”

Students from third through seventh grade will get the chance to ride the bikes this spring between rides around NY Mills and field trips around the county. While the fourth, fifth and sixth graders all were able to attend a field trip to Glendalough State Park, they rode bikes, fished with high school fishing league members, and listened to a presentation by local DNR Conservation Officer, Landyn Saewert.

“It was a nice field trip,” said Rimpila. “The fourth graders did biking and fishing, they actually did fairly well catching fish that day. It keeps them fairly busy. Fifth and sixth grade hiked, and they went to Finn Creek.”

Rimpila also said a donation of helmets from Sanford Health to help equip each student with the proper safety gear. The Darkhouse Association donated bikes with training wheels as well.

One more local donation came from Paul Bloyer at the County Cycle Pitstop, the e-bike dealer in NY Mills. He gave a Magicycle commuter bike to Rimpila to help with leading groups during his bike fleet events.

“It has pedal assist and throttle override,” said Bloyer. “It’s so they can keep up with the kids. That bike would be a 35 mile range.”

Bloyer said that the donation is part of his way of remaining a “good steward” in the community. He has donated several bikes this spring including to the Cultural Center and to the Magnifi bike rodeo event.

“It’s just our continued effort in the community,” said Bloyer.

The seventh graders took their field trip to Glendalough last week where Rimpila was able to use the bike fleet once more before the school year ends. Looking forward to warm summer weather, the bike fleet also gets its use after school’s out.