Fayetteville, WV (WOAY) – A group of Fayetteville PK-8 students will trade the school bus for their own two wheels Friday morning, riding across town to class together in what organizers call a bike bus.
The group meets at the Fayetteville Town Park at 7:30 a.m. and rides through town to the school, with a second pickup point at the memorial building at 7:45 a.m. for anyone who wants to join for the back half of the route.
The idea came from volunteer Tim Naylor, who said he was skeptical when his son first floated riding a bike to school.
“My son got a bike and one day he thought that he could ride his bike to school. And I told him he was crazy,” Naylor said. “And then I saw a friend of mine riding his bike with his two daughters to the school, and I thought it might not be a bad idea.”
Bike buses have gained traction in towns across the country in recent years, spreading largely through social media. Naylor figured a small town like Fayetteville could make it work.
The first ride drew a modest crowd, but Naylor said the point was never the head count.
“It’s a great sense of community for the area and it brings kids together who might not otherwise hang out with each other,” he said. “The last time we did it, we only had three kids show up, but it was the first one, so we’re hoping it kind of grows from that.”
The Fayetteville Police Department is part of the effort. Chief Tyler Hogan provides a safety escort and, according to Naylor, a little entertainment along the way.
“The chief of police, she rode behind us with flashing lights to keep cars from pushing up on us,” Naylor said. “And she also played music through her P.A. system for the kids to enjoy.”
New River Bikes is sponsoring the ride. Owner Andrew Forron said he wants to see more kids getting around town and to school on bikes, and is looking at ways to support that.
“We’ve already talked about getting some more bike racks at the school, so we would be more than happy to provide some bike racks for the kids to park their bikes,” Forron said. “And it would be pretty cool to see it full.”
For Naylor, the ride offers busy families a rare window of time together before the day gets away from them.
“I would say that it’s really a good way to just spend that extra half hour with your kids that you might not get because of work and sports and everything else,” he said. “Just another way to spend a little bit of time with your kid before the day starts.”
