Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Kids ride bikes at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
The bike track offers a miniature traffic roundabout and simulated railroad crossings to help youngsters learn how to deal with those real-world situations.
Mike Kotyk, a member of the Sharon Recreation Commission and the Mercer County Trails Association, speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon. Kotyk was the driving force behind fundraising and getting the project built.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides across a gravel-surfaced part of the bike track. The complex exposes young bicyclists to a variety of riding surfaces and traffic situations so they can learn to deal with them in the real world.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike over the wooden hills and valleys at the new bike track Thursday.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
Kids ride bikes at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
SHARON – Eight-year-old Myer Bundrant didn’t need any coaxing Thursday to try out the city’s new bicycle track.
The hard part was getting him to stop.
“He’s been waiting for this for quite awhile,’’ said his mother, Molly Bundrant.
After making a few circuits of the track, Myer said the track allowed him to do exactly what he wanted.
“I like to go quick and fast,’’ Myer said.
Herald business editor Michael Roknick interviews eight-year-old Myer Bundrant to see what he enjoys most about the new Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track.
Myer and Molly Bundrant were among about 70 people — including children, parents and grown-ups who helped make the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track a reality — who turned out Thursday for the track’s official opening. The bike park is in River Gardens Park, off Sterling Avenue, beside the Shenango River.
The bike track offers a miniature traffic roundabout and simulated railroad crossings to help youngsters learn how to deal with those real-world situations.
In addition to the Quota Club, the Sharon Kiwanis Club, Mercer County Trails Association, the Sharon Recreation Commission, The Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, Zekelman Foundation and Horizon Construction, and private donors helped with the effort.
“This has been an amazing collaborative effort between a few organizations,” said Sherris Moreira, Sharon’s downtown development director.
Construction broke ground Aug. 10 for the bicycle track designed for 5- to 15-year-olds.
The project will provide an area for parents to teach their children how to safely ride bicycles. The track will also allow local organizations to hold events to improve riding skills.
Mike Kotyk, a member of the Sharon Recreation Commission and the Mercer County Trails Association, organized the project.
Mike Kotyk, a member of the Sharon Recreation Commission and the Mercer County Trails Association, speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon. Kotyk was the driving force behind fundraising and getting the project built.
“This is a way of getting kids outside at an early age,” Kotyk said. “This will get kids out of the house and get them motivated to learn a lifelong skill.”
Other kids also gave the track a thumbs up.
“It’s nice and smooth,’’ Oliver Johnson, 3, of Sharon said.
Parents attending the opening viewed the track as a cycling-learning experience for their children – and them. Tom Geisler of Sharon said he used to run with his daughter, Elise, 5, when she first started cycling.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike at the Quota Club Shenango Valley Youth Bicycle Safety and Skills Track on Thursday in Sharon.
But as her skills improved, that had to end.
“I can’t run faster than her any more,’’ Geisler said.
The track includes bends and even a roundabout, to help get children acclimated to the road feature that is becoming increasingly common throughout Pennsylvania. PennDOT has added two roundabouts in Mercer County — one in Sharon a couple blocks from the bicycle track, and another on State Street in Hermitage.
Those additions added to the track’s allure for Kiera Lynch, 5, from Allison Park near Pittsburgh. She was visiting family, and they all decided to attend the opening.
“I like all of the turns,’’ Lynch said of the track.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides across a gravel-surfaced part of the bike track. The complex exposes young bicyclists to a variety of riding surfaces and traffic situations so they can learn to deal with them in the real world.
The playground is about 400 yards long, running from the fishing pier to the community garden open space and is divided into two parts. One has different riding surfaces, such as pavement and gravel. The other is for smaller children learning to ride a bike. The combination helps children learn to handle bicycles under different conditions.
“We are hoping to do programs along with the Kiwanis providing bike safety sessions and giving away helmets,” Kotyk said. “We want to provide a safe, free location for young people to recreate.”
Organizers looked at several locations but decided on River Gardens Park because it would require little excavation and have minimal environmental impact. It was also deemed a good location by Mercer County Regional Planning Commission and Mercer County Conservation District.
Myer Bundrant, 8, rides a bike over the wooden hills and valleys at the new bike track Thursday.
Kotyk said the track would have tangible benefits for the city.
“Bicycling in general brings money into communities, people into communities and events into communities,” he said.
Donations for the project can be sent to Mercer County Trails Association, Box 1553, Hermitage PA 16148.
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
Melissa has been a news reporter for The Herald since 2013, covering breaking news, northern Mercer County, Sharon City schools and education. She is a 1992 graduate of Youngstown State University with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.
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Michael joined The Herald in 1985 as business writer and is now business editor, overseeing veterans, business and consumer coverage, and takes photos. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in communications, writing and economics.
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