Joschka Haydon's dad was teaching him to ride a bike just a few months ago.
The training wheels were off Wednesday as the second-grader at Proctor Terrace Elementary in Santa Rosa joined hundreds of others countywide in making the two-wheeled -- or two-footed -- trek to school.
"I just love it," said Joschka, 7, as he pedaled onto campus alongside his father, Dennis. "It's great."
The two were part of Walk and Roll to School Day, an annual event observed worldwide to promote good health and to get people out of their cars.
Organizers in Sonoma County expected to best last year's record of 2,063 participants. This year's totals will not be available for several days.
"I'd say we had double the number of bikes we usually have," said Steve Mayer, Proctor Terrace principal. "It definitely lightened up the traffic. The school buses were able to get through."
While 17 schools from Sebastopol to Sonoma took part, some districts refused to officially sanction the event out of concern for student safety.
Petaluma city schools, with about 7,800 students in grades K-12, allowed distribution of fliers but advised that participation was a family decision.
"Given our primary concern for student safety and the varying street and sidewalk conditions students may encounter on their way to school, we leave the choice . . . to parents," Superintendent Greta Viguie said.
However, a handful of Petaluma-area schools in other districts reported active participation.
Scott Mahoney, principal of Corona Creek Elementary in the Waugh district, said modern sidewalks and roads near his campus are conducive to riding and walking.
"We had a huge turnout," Mahoney said. "It looks like more students and parents than ever before walked or rode to school."
Organizers hope to encourage physical activity to improve health and reduce childhood obesity, which has risen over the years and now affects one in four children from 6 to 19.
At the same time, riding and walking will get more pollution-emitting cars off the road. Traffic in Santa Rosa, for example, increases 30 percent during the school year, according to the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition.
"Some parents drive their kids from just a few blocks away," Mayer said.
Several key programs seek to change that behavior.
The federal government is pumping $660,000 this year into local Safe Routes to School programs to get kids moving on their own. The bulk of the local money is dedicated to education programs, but it includes one sidewalk improvement project in Sebastopol.
Officials want to know whether students are getting a lift to school because it's more convenient for parents, whether there is a safe route or whether parents and students feel uneasy about walking or biking to school for other reasons.
Beth Dadko, coordinator for Safe Kids Sonoma County, said she hoped the grants will expand participation in the future.
Dadko was at Santa Rosa's Sheppard School on Wednesday, talking to students for a radio show and taking pictures. She was heartened to see how well kids understood the many reasons for getting to school by means other than a car.
She said she hopes that kids who participate in Walk and Roll will learn how much they like it and start to do it regularly.
"It's just kind of a shift and changing habits," Dadko said.
Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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