Two Wheel Roundup—Riding For Focus in Laramie!

A Laramie Middle School student rides a bike at the Schoolyard Trails as part of an afterschool program

Laramie Middle School (LMS) physical education is expanding their Physical Education program with fleet of 26 mountain bikes that are now part of the PE curriculum. Last fall, Outride awarded the Riding for Focus grant to the school. Cynthia Hartung, a professor in the University of Wyoming, Department of Psychology, helped PE teacher Jamie Simmons write the initial grant. With additional funding from Outride, Hartung plans to study how high-intensity interval training on a bike, also known as HIIT, can impact executive functioning in middle school students. Executive functions include things like memory, attention, self-control and flexible thinking. Those with ADHD struggle in these areas. Hartung is already conducting similar research on college students in her UW lab.

“What we’re finding with college students is it’s having a significant impact on their executive functioning skills,” she said. “They’re improving after HIIT in ways that they’re not improving without the interval training.” Hartung said the research shows promise in pointing to regular exercise as another way to treat ADHD.

“The hope is that for some people who don’t want to take medication or don’t respond to medication, it’s possible that exercise could serve as an alternative to medication.” Professor Cynthia Hartung, University of Wyoming, Department of Psychology

Professor Hartung shared more of her research this past summer at the Fourth Annual Riding for Focus Research Summit that brought together leading experts to share the latest research about the wide-ranging benefits of cycling that further the Outride mission of improving the academic, health and social success of today’s youth.

In addition to bikes, Laramie Middle School also received helmets, pumps, repair kits, tubes and training for PE teacher Jamie Simmons, who is leading all LMS 7th graders through the cycling unit this fall. “It’s a really good social-distance activity, and we can be outside,” she said. Students start by learning how to conduct a safety inspection and check for maintenance issues before they ride. Then they learn concepts like scanning for cars, signaling, stopping at intersections and weaving.

Last year Laramie Middle School received 26 new bikes for the school program which are being integrated into the Physical Education Program, cycling club and research projects.

Simmons has taken students from campus to neighborhood streets to the nearby Cirrus Sky Trail. On a few Fridays, during which students aren’t required to attend in-person school under Tier II learning, Simmons has gathered a few students for longer rides to the Schoolyard Trails east of town. Simmons said some students have learned to ride a bike for the first time during the program, and some don’t have bikes at home. Those with more experience have the opportunity to take on a mentorship role. “I think it’s something special to our school that we have them,” she said.

The bikes are getting heavy use this fall between daily PE classes and during a new after school bike club led by math teacher Jacey Meyers and social studies teacher Evan Townsend. Meyers said up to two dozen students attend the club for the opportunity to ride to the Schoolyard Trails. She’s watched students challenge themselves, try new things and work as a team. “Some students really need this to grow personally, so we’ve been able to see that as well,” she said.

Townsend said the club has attracted students who don’t participate in the school’s traditional sports offerings and perhaps don’t feel like they fit in at school.

“It’s really cool to see them light up and feel like they’re part of the team and have something to do after school,” Evan Townsend, Social Studies Teacher.

Tristan Wallhead, a professor in the UW Division of Kinesiology and Health, is also conducting Outride-funded research on the efficacy of the Riding for Focus program itself. During the initial phase of the two-year project, he’s looking at whether instruction during a PE class leads students to greater participation in the same activities outside the classroom. The afterschool club is the perfect testing ground for such a question, he said. “If we offer them an activity that’s the same as PE, will they do it?” he asked.

The target demographic is students who aren’t already participating in other school-sponsored activities. “Is this an attractant for them to get out and do something a little bit different, beyond team and organized sports? That’s an interesting question for me,” he said.

Laramie is building a community around bikes in more ways in addition to Riding for Focus. Laramie BikeNet has a youth cycling committee that’s supporting the efforts at the middle school. Committee member Doug Scambler said BikeNet is currently pursuing funding to build a mountain bike trail near the middle school.