A Bike Rodeo was held at Mayors’ Riverfront Park off Mills Street on Wednesday. The event was part of Kalamazoo County’s Bike Week celebration.
At the event, kids learned about biking skills and to make sure that all of their gear is good-to-go as the weather gets warmer.
The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor also made an announcement about a reward fund with the help of Silent Observer and Bike Friendly Kalamazoo. The goal of the fund is to protect riders and encourage people with information to come forward when something bad happens.
In 2016, a pickup truck plowed into a group of 9 cyclists in the City of Kalamazoo. Five cyclists were killed.
“Several years ago in Kalamazoo, we had a terrible tragedy where multiple cyclists in our, in our community were killed and injured,” said Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting. “A terrible incident on Westnedge Avenue. And we continue to have other incidents that don’t go reported in the same way in the media where bicyclists are struck, injured, and sometimes killed. And this money allows for us to assist law enforcement in their investigations and help us to solve those crimes so that people are being held accountable when they injure someone on the road.”
2023 is the 12th year for the Kalamazoo Area Bike Week. It will wrap up on Saturday.
