With 4 races in total, The Pedal Kids Race Series (PKRS) is designed to help young children develop more self-confidence and help families build a more powerful connection to their children. Short, spectator friendly, loop courses will be built on a mix of pavement, dirt and grass and include quirky obstacles for kids to ride over, around, and through with the help of an adult buddy. Parent or guardian participation is part of the fun! The series will offer 3 unique race categories broken into no pedals, 1 gear, and multiple gears with specific age brackets from 2-11. The youngest “pre-pedal” racers race for free! Distances are adjusted per age group.

Jannine Fitzgerald, event creator and founder of the local family bike shop and youth cycling programming business, Buddy Pegs, helped dream up the PKRS to address a real problem with kids bike racing, “For years I’ve wondered why the only bike racing available for young kids were short races typically squeezed in between adult races at bike events. Every other sport has dedicated kids events except for bike racing. It’s time to put bike riding on the same level as every other youth sport.”

These PKRS events will connect families on a personal level to both nature and themselves, and celebrate the hard work kids have put into becoming more confident riders. How a child places on the leaderboard is secondary to how much fun they had lapping the unique obstacle course with friends and family cheering them on.

Buddy Pegs is proud to bring Pedals Kids Race Series to Bentonville, AR this fall for the second year (formerly known as GromCross). The race series first begins on Oct 9th at the Buddy Pegs headquarters on the border of Bentonville and Bella Vista, AR. Food and drinks will be available from vendors on-site and participating families will automatically be entered into a raffle. Parents who were asked about last year’s races are glowing about the events for a number of reasons:

“Events and friendly competition build a great community for both the kids and the parents!”

“Kids love to bike and race, why not both?”

“I think this opens up their minds to different kinds of environments. They also have a lot of fun and socialize with new kids.”

“It gives the kids something to look forward to and offers our youngest something to participate in since she’s not old enough for some of the events big bro attends.”

Families can learn more and sign up at www.buddypegs.com/pkrs. Registration opens on Sept. 13th and spots are limited per category.

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