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MONROE — Children are learning bicycle safety tips during Monroe's second annual kids bike rodeo.

The bike rodeos will run from 10 to 11 a.m. in seven targeted neighborhoods in the community. They began Tuesday, July 1, and run through July 29.

The rodeo is a free event geared toward promoting bicycle safety and increasing awareness in the community about kids riding their bikes, said Monroe police Officer Brett Kahny.

Kahny said the department decided to launch the rodeo last year after partnering with co-sponsor Children's Medical Center of Dayton.

"We tried to figure out what kind of injuries during the summer they (children) have and they (Children's Medical Center) concurred that there was a lot of brain injuries with kids riding bikes," he said.

Kahny said during the rodeo he — with the help of some volunteers and auxiliary officers — provides a bike safety briefing in the beginning of the one-hour program emphasizing bike safety tips such as sizing helmets and how to properly wear them and about the importance of wearing them.

"I see if they know their hand and arm signals if they're riding in the streets and we do a bicycle safety check on their bikes (such as checking the handle bars, brakes, the bike chain, the air pressure in their tires and frames), and then we just see how they do in a little mini bicycle obstacle course," said Kahny, who serves as a resource officer for Monroe Local Schools.

The kids also are given a grab bag at the end of the rodeo, which includes a coloring book and work book, bicycle safety tips for parents, stranger danger stickers and a mini police badge.

The kids also are given free bicycle helmets courtesy of Children's Medical Center, which donated 50 helmets for this year's event.

Kahny said between 60 to 70 kids participated in last year's eight rodeos and that he expects that number to grow to about 100 kids this year.

"It's (the rodeo) all for the kids and so hopefully they wear their helmets and be safe out there as their riding their bikes," he said.

For more information about the event, call Kahny at (513) 539-9234.

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.