Every week in the Park Avenue neighborhood, a group of School 23 children hop on their bicycle and head to school in a “bike bus” parade.
That ride drew about 50 students and parents this week as they celebrated National Bike and Roll to School Day.
The group gathered outside the Rochester Museum and Science Center in the rain before embarking on the mile-long route that will take them past the iconic row of magnolia trees along Oxford Street.
It was one of more than 2,000 community rides to school registered for the national event, with 44 of those taking place in New York state, according to National Center for Safe Routes to School.
Adrian Martin, a parent of two students at the school, coordinated this week’s special gathering.
“It's pretty much rainy every year that we have Bike to School Day. It just turns out that way," Martin said. “I think we've had rain like four straight years, but we still get, you know, 30 or 40, sometimes 50 kids riding. So, you know, the kids don't care so much about riding in the rain. It's the parents that get upset about that.”
Fifth-grader Thomas Csati can attest to that.
“I don't really care,” he said. “It's weather.”
Next to him, third-grader Hank Waxmonsky was also undeterred by the rain.
“I like that you can get your exercise in,” he said. “And I also like that you can ride around with your friends, too.”
Riding in inclement weather gives children an opportunity to see that they are capable of doing something even if it seems hard or challenging at first, Martin said. But the routine also holds greater meaning for him.
“There's a lot of research that sees that children that get a little exercise on the way to school perform better. They're able to learn better,” he said. “So I wanted to incorporate that into my kids’ lives as well.”
A 2021 study published in the Human Kinetics Journals concluded that fourth- and fifth-graders who participated in a before-school exercise program once a week performed better on reading assessments than their peers.
An earlier study in 2009 published in the Journal of School Health indicated that there was a correlation between physical activity and short-term academic benefits, like improved concentration, but concluded that the relationship between exercise and long-term academic outcomes required “further elucidation.”
Among the Rochester elementary students embarking on the bike to school venture in rain jackets and boots, there was a palpable sense of connection, excitement, and joy.
That joy was apparent across generations. Amanda Tucker, a parent, grinned as she biked in the middle of the pack as her daughter Mary Anne sat gazing at the scenery in a child seat behind her, and her son Benny was elsewhere in the crowd.
“I think it’s good for ... bicyclists to take over the road once in a while,” Tucker said. “And hopefully, you know, down the line, (we can) get more support for it in the form of infrastructure ... and just a general cultural shift towards more biking.
“Especially in the era of $6 gas. Not that we have that here, but you know, it's coming,” she added, alluding to the ongoing United States-Israel war in Iran.
In the playground outside the school building, Lindsey Csati, a parent, greeted students as they arrived, holding up an umbrella to shield her and a red wagon full of snacks from the rain.
The effect of a collective activity like this is not only beneficial for children, she said.
“I think it's great for the community, too,” she said. “This really helps bring all of our families in the area together.”
