Last Tuesday morning about a dozen area youth saddled up on the their bikes and hit the road. In a little more than a week, they will be in Banff.
This is the third annual Badlands To Banff Bike tour. Drumheller Constable Craig Nelson has been working with the youths for almost a year fundraising and getting ready to take on the excursion.
“We’re excited to get going,” said Nelson. “We have a good crew this year, a younger crew. Last year there were older kids, and this year a lot are 14 and 15. So this is going to be a different dynamic It will be fun.” They are pretty excited.
The trip includes 11 from Drumheller and one participant from Calgary. They are being led on the tour by Two Wheel View, which specializes in arranging such trips for groups. They have had a three year partnership, and no signs of slowing down.
Addison Sowerby, Grade 9 student from St. Anthony’s is taking on the challenge, and is looking forward to seeing the sights of Banff and the mountains. He is also looking forward to spending time with a different group of people.
The Ride fulfills the expedition requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh program. Nelson explains that while they are affiliated, students taking on the bike trip do not have to be registered in the Duke of Edinburgh program.
“Of the 11 kids from Drumheller, most of them have signed up for The Duke of Edinburgh program. When we started there were five signed up,” said Nelson. “If kids sign up for Duke, I think it is awesome, but to go on the bike trip you don’t have to.”
He says a positive aspect of the RCMP involvement with the trip is that kids get a positive experience with the police early on.
“At the end of the day, we want to build bridges with the kids. Whether they are in the Duke of Edinburgh program or not, they are still going to get to go on a bike ride with a police officer,” he said. “That is one of the things we want or do is build that bridge and have the kids see us as more than just the guys that drive around in cars and pull people over, but someone they can rely upon or call when they need help.”
He feels the kids will grow from the experience.
“We talk about unplugging, they won’t be on their cell phones, they won’t be in their own little world. They will be part of group, they will be doing leadership exercises, they will be making decisions together, they will be biking together and taking care of each other,” he said. “There’s physical exercise. We know we are living in an unhealthy age, and they are going out and biking 320 kilometres, so there are lots of really good things coming out of it.”
“The life-changing decisions these kids make are amazing.”
