VES Sets New Record as 128 Bike To School

On the last of 's an initiative started this year to encourage more families to walk or bike to school, more than a third of the school's student body came to class on two wheels -- a record among Vienna-area elementary schools.

From kindergardeners to departing sixth graders, 128 of the 336 students in school Wednesay rode in on a bike, said Safe Routes to School coordinator Sean McCall.

To accomodate the extra volume, provided two extra event racks to supplement the two double racks and one moveable rack that typically sit on the school's blacktop.

Mayor Jane Seeman arrived early to help greet students. She was joined later by Principal John Carmichael, Assistant Principal Vicki Duling and school board member Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill).

As parents enjoyed the free coffee provided weekly by , children ran back and forth, checking the count as it climbed toward, and beyond 100. At 8:30 a.m., when 100 was reached, the students celebrated with rounds of high-fives, McCall said.

When school began at 8:40 a.m., McCall said, all racks were full.

" [It was] definitely a modern Vienna record and even though there is no way to be certain, probably both an all time record for Vienna and the county too," McCall said.

Across town at Wolftrap Elementary School, Safe Routes to School coordinator Jeff Anderson assembled the last of the year, with several more students riding to class on their own. By the time the bell rang there, 82 bikes sat in the racks on the school's side lawn.

Though Wednesday marked the end of the walk and bike to school initiative this year, organizers are already brainstorming ways to get more families out of their cars and onto the sidewalks come September, they said.