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Nestled beside Berta Weathersbee Elementary School sits the city’s newest park, Pedal Park. 

The non-traditional park is located beside the school on Forrest Avenue in LaGrange. Rather than simple greenspace, the looping bicycle paths of Pedal Park allow for a safe place for parents to bring young kids to ride their bikes but also a fun way to learn the rules of the road.

The park is the vision of former City Manager Meg Kelsey, who helped get the park started while she served in LaGrange, said Mayor Jim Arrington.

“This was her vision,” Arrington said. “Granger Park has a little tricycle trail where kids from two to six years old can learn how to ride a bicycle. This was a step up so that when they actually learn how to ride, they could come over here and learn how to be street smart.”

The bike pathways at Pedal Park help teach kids about navigating the roads with stop signs, yield signs, bridges, railroad crossings and even a roundabout.

The new park was completely funded through an Improving Neighborhood Outcomes and Disproportionately Impacting Communities grant at no cost to the city.

Eddie Rhodes, a retired educator and licensed bicycle instructor, said parks like Pedal Park are important to help kids get into cycling.

“Kids and bikes go together like peanut butter and jelly,” Rhodes said, “The past decade, we have had a big drop of kids on bikes. One of the great things about this is that we’ve invested in giving kids the opportunity, and they can have a safe place to actually get out there and learn to ride and ride bikes, hopefully, for years on end.”

The new park also connects to The Thread multi-use trail, so when the kids can ride, jump right in, and ride all around LaGrange with their families.

Natalie Hale, Executive Director of Friends of The Thread, said the plan is to continue the section to South Bend Park.

“It’ll be a big loop that goes around LaGrange College and here. It will be 5.2 miles, and we should be completed with this section in the next three months,” Hale said. “It goes down Forrest, tight now it’s at Honeycutt and Murphy Avenue. It’ll go all down Dunson around the mill. It’s going to be a really scenic route and complete our first large loop. We also have another segment under construction going from George Harris out to Nutwood to get us to Ridley Lake Park, which will be constructed in the next year.”

To help get kids started riding bikes at the new park and along The Thread, the Friends of The Thread donated ten bikes to students at Berta Weathersbee. Mayor Pro-Tem Quay Boddie donated another bike, making it 11 in total that were given away.

Principal Willie Cooks said the students were selected for the bike giveaway based on their academics and attendance. He said they were surprised with the gifted bikes earlier in the morning.