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Balance bikes are gaining in popularity

A unique bike race for very young children takes place in Lincoln this weekend, the Strider Cup. 

The event led Governor Pete Ricketts to proclaim Saturday as Youth Cycling Day. It’s a race of no-pedal balance bikes put on by the Strider Company.

Company founder and avid bicyclist, Ryan McFarland, says children as young as 18 months can begin on a balance bike, and almost always transition to a pedal bike without needing training wheels because they’ve developed most of the skills – and the confidence -- they need.

"Just like you, on a pedal bike, might pedal for a little while and then just coast, on this bike there is a foot rest, and so you will run – once you are proficient, you actually run with it – and build that same momentum, and then you put your feet up on the foot rest and glide.  So you are fully riding, balancing, leaning and steering a two-wheel bike, it’s just that you are using a running motion instead of a pedaling motion to build up your momentum.”

The races take place at the Railyard in Lincoln this Saturday beginning at 9 a.m., with races for 2 through 5 year olds and a special needs division.

This is the first of 3 Strider Cups to be held in the United States in 2016, culminating in the Strider World Championship in San Francisco in late July with young racers from around the world.

For more information, the website is www.striderbikes.com