Pedalheads Denver l Summer Camps

★Hailee Foerster

We paid for two children for the Wash Park- Stephen Knight location. My children are ages 3 and 5. It was a total unorganized disaster. The staff was not professional, we couldn’t even find our instructor. I spent an hour in a field (they were playing a game where the children ran around, without water,) asking who is instructor 2. Everyone shrugged their shoulders. I finally found our instructor and she said hello to my daughter…. That was it. There was zero direction. The camp moved the kids from the field to the bike parking lot and still zero direction, my daughter hopped on her bike without a helmet. My son was just not having it… I kept asking question like where do we move the bikes to, are you going to explain boundaries and a step by step to my children as they don’t know how to ride a bike…. Big kids were riding through the parking lot while little kids were barely being watch or taught… I took my children home. No way would I recommend pedal heads. There was a camp next door called “learn to ride,” they were extremely organized, had uniforms on there staff and the children were walking in a single file line to there bikes that an instructor had already set out. Go to this camp. Stay away from Pedalheads. Follow up to review. We emailed the camp in June and still haven’t heard a response to our complaint. In my opinion, this camp doesn’t take any accountability for their disorganized camp. They don’t care if children learn to ride or if they are safe. Please take caution before you leave your child with untrained staff.

★★★★★Emily Rubin

We had the best experience at SKCEE. Minus the signage on the first day (Avid had camp at the same location, Pedalheads was at a different part of the parking lot). Kids were grouped by level/ages and instructors while young were energetic and excited to teach the kiddos. We did half days and our son went from balance bike (and then taking a two year break ( oops) to learning to ride on the first day to begging to ride this bike this weekend. Bumps and bruises are bound to happen but they were cleaned and bandaged up and good to go. They had indoor spaces for bad weather and made sure they reapplied sunscreen and drank water on one of the hottest weeks. Thanks all!

★K K

The strider bike camp at Steven Knight (Denver) was a disaster and a disappointment. On day 1, it took 25 minutes to get checked in. We showed up 10 minutes early and when we got there, there was a line 20+ kids long with just 2 people checking kids in. It took until 9:30 (30 minutes after the scheduled start) for all 4 of the kids in her class to get checked in. Totally not okay for a class that is just 90 minutes long. Nobody from the camp did any sort of safety checks such as helmet fit?, bike seat height?, is the wheel seated in the front fork so it doesn't fall off? I left and returned after 30 minutes, 1 hours into the class. There was absolutely no curriculum or plan. The 3 remaining kids in the class (was 4 to start but one of the moms was so pissed off she immediately pulled her kid out of the class and never returned) were just straddle walking their striders back and forth, "racing" in a straight line. In the 30 minutes that I was there, well actually it was 20 minutes because the kids were so bored that they ended class 10 minutes early, they took 2 water breaks in which the entire class was taken inside the school building with the instructor to a water fountain because 1 kid didn't bring a water bottle. Shocking that the camp didn't have a few bottles of water on hand in case someone forgot theirs, especially considering how hot it was last week. One of the other moms who hadn't left for the 30 minutes that I did, said that the camp director came over and was surprised that all parents didn't stay for the camp. The pre-camp email was very clear that parents should drop off their kids then quickly leave. When we asked her about this at the end of the first day, the Camp Director replied "well, i guess you can leave, as long as we have some parents here to help because I can't be here to help with all of the classes." After the abysmal first day, I was livid and spoke to someone at the main office to express my concerns, hoping for a 180. Days 2-5 were slightly better, but still glaringly obvious that the people running the camp have limited experience interacting with kids or running a successful camp. -The camp simply wasn't fun and engaging for kids -Low energy and creativity in the structure of the camp and class -Basics ignored such as don't have a male in their early 20's take a 3 year old girl alone to the bathroom -Very poor communication and organization Ultimately, I did not feel comfortable leaving my young daughter at the camp and made sure we had myself or my nanny present for the remainder of the camp. Luckily my nanny was there to intervene when the young male instructor tried to take my 3 year old daughter into the school building to the bathroom alone (innocently I'm sure, but still inappropriate). Um, did I sign up for mom-toddler camp? Nope! On Saturday, the day after her week-long camp, I took her with her strider to Wash Park. She refused to ride her bike and would only straddle walk her bike. So, basically, no progress in the class. Sad to say that she was the most advanced participant in her 2-3 year old strider group. After our experience, I strongly encourage any parent to avoid Pedalheads.

★Taryn Ketels

We had high hopes for this camp. Now, looking at reviews from outside of Denver, I’m not sure we did enough research. The first day was an absolute cluster. It was so disorganized that I considered not dropping my kid off. They didn’t have any of the names of the kids. They didn’t have any of the contact information for the parents. My parents were able to stay and watch for a while to ensure that it was safe, which is the only reason that I left him there. It turned out that someone in administration had sent them a list from last year so we decided to let that go and just hope for the best as the week went on. I know that they can’t work miracles, however, when we got feedback on Thursday from our son and his grandparents that he played with bugs all day and did not ride his bike we lost all hope. They seemed understaffed & disorganized and didn’t seem to have a plan in place for children who are afraid. Our child switched teachers multiple times throughout the week, likely leading to a discontinuity of care and lack of trust. Our child started at a Strider level and ended at a strider level. We have friends who enrolled in a different program (Avid for Adventure) this same week and their child of the same age, who started at the exact same level of anxiety and skill, was riding without training wheels by the end of the first day. Bottom line: don’t waste your money.

★★★★★Kirsten Schatz

Our 7-year-old was at the Denver Central Park location and we had a great experience! The hours were good, our kiddo had fun, and most importantly, learned to ride a 2-wheeler on the first day! I know this isn't guaranteed, and we still would have been satisfied even if he hadn't quite gotten it, but we're pretty thrilled with the result. The camp is definitely a bit pricey, so we were grateful to take advantage of the shorter/cheaper week after Memorial Day. But especially since he's ditched the training wheels, it felt like a worthwhile investment. Mariah and the other staff were so friendly, encouraging and great.