Maury Elementary School Visit

Yesterday was our second school visit, to the Maury Elementary School in Washington D.C – and what a great time we had!

We were so impressed with the kids at Maury– they were all so willing to learn and interested in what we had to say, taking full part in the activities we set. Coach Johnson is a fine ambassador for the school and a great leader for the children. We especially loved the fact that most of the kids had bikes, some rode to school and almost everyone played a sport or were part of a dance group – good work!!

We have a lot of enthusiasm for and belief in the message we are putting out there and are endlessly grateful for the help and support of our sponsor, Altarum Institute. We are on a mission to show kids how fun it is to live a healthy life - to eat healthy and to be fit! In the school sessions, we explained and demostrated to the kids what we do as bike riders and why, and taught them some of the in’s and out’s of bike racing and fitness and of course, talked about good nutrition! It’s Cycling Fitness 101!!

The day was structured along the same lines as the last school visit that Lorena wrote about, with four stations staffed by different members of the team. Kate Veronneau and I were on Bike Handling and Team Strategy – talking about how cycling is a team sport, even though there is only one person who wins, and letting the kids in on some of our ‘secrets’ for example, drafting, flicking your elbow when you have finished your turn at the front so the next person can take a turn on the front, forming a pace line when the wind is coming in different directions. We used a fan to demonstrate how much wind the person in front could block and the kids had a lot of fun with this.
We had a great time and I had all sorts of different questions about my accent, from “Why do you talk funny?” to “Are you from Texas?!”.

Kate Flore was on the Strength Training station where she put the kids through their paces with all sorts of exercises. This station was definitely a favorite and there were all sorts of yelps and laughter coming from her area as the kids held static strength poses – such as the plank or board (where you hold yourself on your forearms and toes with your back flat) and then stretched their muscles out afterwards.

Michele staffed the Nutrition and Recovery station, where she talked about healthy eating, foods to concentrate on eating most (fruit and vegetables and whole grains) the importance of a healthy breakfast, and foods to stay away from (junk foods and sugar). She borrowed some fruit snacks as props and the grapes sure didn’t last long!! Great that the kids have a good healthy appetite for fruit! All the kids got a bottle of water and a drink bottle at the end so they keep up their fluid intake, especially as the weather warms up!

Our mechanic Ryan (or GiGi) was on the technical station, where he showed the kids a road bike and a time trial bike, talking about the differences between these and why. He had all sorts of props – from an aero Time Trial helmet, a road helmet and some cycling clipless shoes. The kids loved trying on the helmets – some got lost inside them! And each child received some reflector stickers at the end of the lesson.

All up, it was another great day out at another great school! Thank you for having us!
Ciao
Dale