Here is what has hatched from my egg of an idea about encouraging more bicyclist in my area 2Wheels2Pedals2Dollars. Here is how it works I feel like getting more people out on bike starts young so what could motivate kids away from the game console and onto their bikes?
Money?
It occurred to me how much my kids love getting their own money from chores around the house to Birthday cards they get all lit up when they have this gift of independence bestowed upon them. My little girl carries her own little purse of change with her in hopes of finding something she just can't live without though so far she has yet to spend her hard earned cash. When I do decide to get them money for a present or reward normal money just wont do so I go the the bank as ask for 2 dollar bills yes you can still get them from the banks and they are still legal currency. Since it's not every day you see a two dollar bill my children feel sort of special and tend to hang onto it longer. To me this encourages saving and more thought about wither they really want whatever it is they are looking at. This brought about the idea of a 2 dollar gift idea for spotting anyone riding a bike.
In my mind this would do two things first it would be fun for the giver to approach a fellow rider especially a child with a gift for nothing else but being caught on their bike. Second it would create an opportunity to make the fellow rider feel important for doing something good for them, good for the environment, and helpful for the community as a whole. Instead of feeling like a disturbance to their parents or if speaking about an adult a disturbance to other traffic it would be just one person saying "Hey I support what you are doing and want to encourage you to ride even more!"
Wither the the two dollar bill was spent the next day or saved as a constant reminder that riding a bike is something to be proud of would not matter as much as the initial act of the gift. How special for that single instant would that person feel who is receiving the two dollar bill? Also with the money would be give a small single piece of paper with fun and exciting facts about riding a bike. This way the gift would not feel strange or awkward it could even include a local bike shop or local riding group at the bottom.
What an exciting thing getting a gift for doing something fun, positive reinforcement changes lives everyday. Maybe for the adult that had second thoughts about riding again now had some strange gift bestowed upon them and thinks well it must be meant to be! Or a child who feels encouraged to keep riding even after falling off a few times from that one positive experience.
One Happy Meal cost 4 bucks, produces bunches of trash and makes it a real pain in the butt for parents to eat anywhere but McDonald's all because McDonald's puts that little plastic (billion years to break down) toy inside the box. So maybe just maybe the 2Wheels2Pedals2Dollars idea could hatch at half the cost of crappy meal!
Please leave me some feedback on this one. Is this a workable plan? $100 dollars would leave 50 smiles behind and a lifetime of memories.
Pictures still coming I promise! Just waiting on my laptop to upload them all.
Peace
Pedal Strong!
No comments:
Post a Comment