Meet Wyatt: One of the happiest bicyclists we've ever seen

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Cyclist of the Month: Wyatt Brooks
Age: 3
Wheels: Blue Strider balance bike and orange pedal bike
Occupation: n/a

The only person of his household to currently hold a Cascade Membership, Wyatt “the Riot” Brooks, 3, is arguably our youngest card-holding member.

Perhaps one of the happiest bicyclists we have ever seen, Wyatt has been on a bike since he was 18 months old.

“[I like biking] because I like to go fast. I go biking with mom or daddy and we go to the parks,” said Wyatt. “I like to go to parks so I can get exercise like at gym daycare.”

Growing up along the Interurban Bicycle Trail, Wyatt is exposed to a lot of bikes, explained his father, John.

“He sees a lot of bikes. And when I saw the Strider bike, I was intrigued,” said John. “We first got him on the bike partially because he’s a high-energy kid and to focus his energy on biking instead of breaking things. He just loves it.”

Now progressing to his first pedal bike, Wyatt has been receiving safe riding lessons from his neighbor, Sound Transit’s Bicycle Program Coordinator, Rebecca Roush.

“When I found out he had a bicycle I thought, ‘boy, this is great. This is somebody I can help learn how to ride, learn how to ride safe and learn how to ride right,” said Roush. “So I asked his parents if I could start riding with him and they said yes. We go out at least every other weekend –if not every weekend –and just ride around the neighborhood. He loves it. He loves riding that bike.”

Together, Roush and Wyatt ride to the park, to the coffee shop, even to the new cycletrack on Linden.  And while he’s still a bit too young to grasp the concept and danger of traffic and riding in a straight line, Wyatt knows to look for cars before crossing the street, to stop at corners and that the sidewalk is the safest place for him to ride.

“Reb has been integral in Wyatt’s bike riding. More often not she’s the one who takes him on bike rides,” said Wyatt’s mom, Kate. We are so grateful to have her. She takes him everywhere – it’s great.”

Wyatt is also fortunate to be living along a bicycle-friendly street.

“One of the good things about living along the Interurban is that he does see people riding bikes back and forth all day, and so he is exposed to bike riding everywhere and not just as a means of exercise but also as a means of commuting,” said Kate.

Inspired by Roush and Wyatt, Kate looks forward to getting back on a bike herself as well.

“I bought my road bike about six months before I got pregnant and went on my first 60-mile-ride maybe a week before I got pregnant and subsequently put my bike in the garage. Two kids later…the bike was tuned up last week. So [the youngest] is four months old and I’m ready to get back on the bike,” she said. “I want to be the mom with the bright pink cruiser with a bucket on the front and carrying my kids and bikes and pails and snacks.”

Additionally, Kate and Wyatt even tried their hands at bike racing, lining up for their first Cyclocross races last month. Whether as a commuter or a racer, something tells us this kid will grow up to be an inspiring bicyclist.

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