The Melrose Messenger

The Ride Cafe Launches Bike Classes for Kids

By Ellen Putnam

The Ride Cafe will be offering several bike programs for kids this spring and summer, following two successful sessions of Kids Learn to Ride classes in November and December. Owner Kara Oberg hopes that these classes will help children gain confidence in their skills and ultimately support a strong bike culture in Melrose.

The Ride Cafe began in the fall of 2022 as part of The Loop, a group of three women-owned businesses sharing a single space. It then moved to 368 Main Street along with fellow Loop member Lend and Mend, where several other small businesses have since joined.

In the two years since Oberg started The Ride Cafe, it has grown from a small repair space to a major force in the community, helping get people of all ages onto bikes and keep bikes in good shape. “Big picture,” Oberg said, “our goal is to enhance the joy and convenience of your trips while building a strong bike culture here in Melrose.”

Electric bikes, or e-bikes, which are bicycles with a small electric motor that helps them pull heavier loads or climb hills with ease, have become a more common sight around town since The Ride Cafe started selling them last spring. “We had a great season,” said Oberg. “Tons of people bought ebikes, and we’ve been servicing a lot of them as well. E-bikes are such a game changer,” she went on, “since they cater to people who want to use their bike for transportation.”

Currently, The Ride Cafe’s only bike for kids is the Strider balance bike, which is a smaller bike that doesn’t have pedals. However, Oberg shared that The Ride Cafe will be “expanding our options for kids this spring, so we can be the go-to place for kids’ bikes” as well as for adult bikes.

As another way to help more kids get on bikes, The Ride Cafe launched a series of Kids Learn to Ride classes this fall, where children who aren’t yet comfortable riding a bike without training wheels can get instruction and practice riding in a safe space. Bike classes for kids, explained Oberg, were “among the most requested things we get from parents.” These classes make The Ride Cafe unique - Oberg believes that The Ride Cafe is the only bike shop in the area that offers classes to kids.

First Congregational Church provided the space for the bike classes, which took place in the church’s parking lot in November and in the basement in December. “They were really generous in terms of letting us try things out,” said Oberg. November’s program was just two days, on Election Day and Veterans Day, but it was so popular that some families had to be put on a waitlist. “Parents loved it,” Oberg said, “so we did it again in December” over the holiday break.

In the class, new riders practiced balance and gliding exercises on bikes with no pedals, before putting the pedals back on to try the more difficult skill of balancing while pedaling. And the young riders also began learning the basics of street safety: “we talked about the rules of the road,” said Oberg, “stop signs and crosswalks.”

“The most joyful piece,” Oberg shared, “is when a kid learns how to ride or balance or brake on their own. When we started teaching these classes we realized, ‘this is really special.’”

“The goal is to keep building the program,” Oberg went on, “so we can have classes for kids who are learning to ride where they can build confidence, and programs for kids who are already confident riders to build their skills” and work on road biking and mountain biking.

While Oberg is still working on the specifics of those classes, she is currently looking into partnerships with the Melrose Recreation Department and Pine Banks Park, and is already starting to hire coaches and instructors for the summer programs. “If folks want to get involved,” she said, “now is a wonderful time to help grow the program.”

Specifically, she is looking for lead coaches or instructors, who could be teachers who are looking for summer work; and assistant coaches, which could be a summer job for high school or college students. Additionally, Oberg will be looking for volunteers to assist with the programs, which could provide an opportunity for middle or high school students who want to earn service hours. “It’s a great opportunity for parents who are looking for their kids to be engaged in something over the summer, but the kids are too young to work,” said Oberg, who added that The Ride Cafe can provide discounts for younger siblings of volunteers who enroll in the classes.

The Ride Cafe will be joining other Melrose organizations, including Follow Your Art and The Kitchen, in offering school break and summer programming for kids of all ages. “I wanted our programs to be in Melrose specifically,” said Oberg, “because the summer programming game is crazy. There are tons of options but a lot of them are far away. I wanted to provide Metro North families with a local summer programming option.”

While there is already a strong culture of biking among older children and teenagers in Melrose - a glance at the overcrowded bike racks at the middle and high schools on a school day gives an idea of just how many students in the older grades bike to school - there are not as many young children biking around town regularly, which is something that Oberg hopes to address through bike classes.

The Horace Mann Bike Bus is another community initiative aimed at getting elementary students biking to school more regularly, and helping drivers become more aware of bikes on the road. And families from at least two other elementary schools in Melrose are looking into starting their own bike buses for next year.

Finally, what keeps many people from biking around town - and makes many parents of young children reluctant to send them out on their own on bikes - is concern over traffic safety. The City of Melrose recently reaffirmed its commitment to Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths through engineering and design choices that make streets safer for vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

“There are so many different facets to building a strong bike culture in our city,” said Oberg, “and helping kids learn how to ride is just one piece.”

To learn more about Kids Learn to Ride classes and other kids’ bike programming or to get information about jobs and volunteer opportunities, visit The Ride Cafe’s website. To learn more about starting a bike bus, attend this upcoming event on March 1st at The Ride Cafe. To learn more about Vision Zero and traffic safety efforts, contact the Melrose Pedestrian and Bicyclist Committee.

Posted January 9th, 2025