Arrow of Light Elective adventure 5th grade

Cycling requirements (Arrow of Light)

Cycling is an Arrow of Light elective adventure with 7 requirements. Below is what each one asks in plain language, and a sixty minute den meeting plan that works through them: a gathering activity, the opening, the activity blocks, and what to say in the closing.

Plan this meeting in DenBuddy Jump to the plan

Free for one den. DenBuddy reads your den from Scoutbook Plus, and writes back only when you press Send.

Cycling requirements

Paraphrased for planning. Read the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Handbook requirement 1

Decide on gear and supplies you should bring for a long bike ride.
Handbook requirement 2

Discover how multi-gear bicycles work and how they benefit a rider.
Handbook requirement 3

Show how to lubricate a chain.
Handbook requirement 4

Pick a bicycle lock that you will use. Demonstrate how it locks and unlocks, how it secures your bicycle, and how you carry it while you are riding your bicycle.
Handbook requirement 5

Repair a flat tire.
Handbook requirement 6

With your family, den, or pack, use a map and plan a bicycle ride that is at least 10 miles.
Handbook requirement 7

With your patrol, pack, or family and using the buddy system, go on a bicycle ride that is a minimum of 10 miles.

Check out this resource page to get the most out of this adventure!

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Cycling

Five kinds of block in the order that works: something to do on arrival, the opening, den business, the adventure work split into chunks a Cub Scout can hold attention through, and a closing that names what got finished.

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: pack the bag

Give the Scouts who arrive first something to do, so the meeting starts the moment they walk in.

Spread the Cub Scout Six Essentials and four things that do not belong on a table by the door.
The card on the table says: pick the six you would carry, and be ready to say why.
As Scouts arrive they join in, so the ones who came early are never left sitting.

0:10 · 5 min

Opening

Flag ceremony, Scout Oath and Scout Law. The same five minutes every week, run by the Scouts.

The denner calls the den to order and leads the flag ceremony.
Say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law together. New Scouts read from a card and nobody makes anything of it.
One sentence on tonight's adventure, Cycling, and the one thing everybody will get done.

0:15 · 5 min

Talk time

Den business while everyone is still sitting down, and a look at what is coming.

The two dates parents need: the next den meeting and the next pack event.
Ask who already did part of Cycling at home, and write the names down so it gets recorded.
Take one question from the den. Answer it or say when you will.

0:20 · 9 min

Activity 1: Decide on gear and supplies you should

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Cycling.

Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
Read "Decide on gear and supplies you should bring for a long bike ride" out loud and give the den ten seconds of quiet before anyone answers.
Take one answer from every Scout. Nobody gets skipped and nobody gets rushed.
Write the den's answers on a flip chart so parents can read them at pickup.
Then requirement 2: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Discover how multi-gear bicycles work and how they benefit a rider", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Show how to lubricate a chain

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Cycling.

Do it once yourself at normal speed, then once slowly while you narrate every step.
Put the den in pairs so each Scout practices "Show how to lubricate a chain" while their partner watches for the one thing that matters.
Go round the circle and have every Scout show you once, in their own way.
Mark it off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember at the end.
Then requirement 4: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Pick a bicycle lock that you will use" once, in their own way.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: Repair a flat tire

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Cycling.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Repair a flat tire".
Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
Mark requirement 5 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
Then requirement 6: sit the den in a circle and take one answer each on "With your family, den, or pack, use a map and plan a bicycle ride that is at least 10 miles".

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: With your patrol, pack, or family

Close requirement 7 of Cycling: With your patrol, pack, or family and using the buddy system, go on a bicycle ride that is a minimum of 10 miles.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "With your patrol, pack, or family and using the buddy system".
Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
Mark requirement 7 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.

Requirement 7

0:55 · 5 min

Closing

End on time, and make sure every Scout leaves knowing what they finished.

Cubmaster's minute: one short thought tied to what the den just did. Sixty seconds, no lecture.
Read back what got finished tonight, requirement by requirement, so the Scouts hear their own progress.
Send the den off with the den yell, and catch the parents who need to hear something at pickup.

What to bring

Tonight's requirement list, printed, with a box to tick per Scout
A clipboard and pen for sign-offs as they happen
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
Bikes and helmets, checked by an adult before the meeting starts

Worked out from the requirement text. Swap anything you already have in the den box.

Plan this meeting for your own den

This plan does not know your Scouts. DenBuddy does: import your den from Scoutbook Plus and the planner starts from the requirements each Scout is actually missing, keeps the block times, and turns the agenda into the record sheet afterwards.

Plan Cycling Create a free den

How the planner works

Youth protection is built in: Scouts have no accounts, check-in is done by a parent from a public link, and nothing DenBuddy does writes back to Scoutbook.

How youth data is handled

Questions about Cycling

How many requirements does Cycling have?

7. Each one is a single thing the Scout does. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is Cycling required for Arrow of Light?

No. Cycling is a Arrow of Light elective. A Scout needs the six required Arrow of Light adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Cycling take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 7 of the 7 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Cycling at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Cycling is marked as family-only work, so a Scout who misses the meeting can finish with a parent and you record it when the family tells you.