Archive for the ‘Kids on bikes’ Category

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Bike maintenance parties wrap-up

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 by Elliott

So that’s it for our Winter season of Bike Maintenance Parties. After three months, an intrepid band of over 30 volunteers put in 170+ hours to get our Basics of Bicycling bikes back up to scratch for schools to use throughout Seattle.

Last week we had enough pizza, enough bikes and enough people. Special thanks to the stand-out all stars of my Maintenance Parties: Becca, Chris, Bent and Ralph!

In an earlier post I gave a little primer of what it is we do at these BMPs so in this wrap-up I’ll just throw some stats at you:

Bike Maintenance Parties: 8

Unique individuals involved: 34

Total hours volunteered: 177

Most appearances: Becca (6), Chris (5), Bent (5), Ralph (3)

Pizzas consumed: 25

Average bikes fixed/week: 32

Most bikes fixed in one night: 45

Total bikes fixed: 240+

Tires pumped up: 480+

Longest night: 3 hrs

Shortest night: 1hr, 15 min.

Average ghosts heard by Elliott after everybody has left: 2/night

See you in the summer!

Posted in Education, Kids on bikes, Volunteer | 1 Comment »

Don’t you remember being a scraper kid?

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 by Elliott

When you were a student, an elementary student, didn’t you want to make your own class rules? I’m sure at some point you wanted to have a whole class devoted to supporting your art and your experience. Do you remember wanting to spray paint things, get your hands dirty and ride bikes? If any of this sounds familiar, you might have made a good scraper kid.

The Scrapers program this winter gave six awesome and creative kids a chance to maintain, design and earn a bike they could keep for themselves. This winter students were asked to come to the first class with a song they wanted to use as the inspiration for their scraper bike. They were empowered with art and creativity to communicate with the world via a custom bicycle: scrapers are art bikes with spray painted frames and duct taped spokes, replicating spinner wheels. Over the course of eight weeks they learned how to:

-Lube a chain
-Fix a flat tire
-Rebuild a hub (no small feat, I must say!)
-Rebuild a bottom bracket
-Spray paint
-Make scraper wheels
-Lock their bikes up securely

If they successfully completed these tasks and attended six of the eight scrapers sessions, the students would be given the bikes as well as a helmet and bike lock.

But the program is about more that just walking away with a colorful bike after two months. It’s about building responsibility, creating your own rules and hands on learning.

From the very first class the students are asked to think carefully about a song they feel represents themselves, and then they are encouraged to turn that song into a bike design. Each kid came up with a wildly different design than the next: from tiger stripes and solid taped wheels to a gold frame with silver rims to a toxic waste bike.

One student even incorporated a project he was working on at school by having the whole class vote on whether or not people should text while driving. He then applied this theme to his black and yellow bike. This same student even came and helped out with the Bicycle Maintenance Parties I was running every Wednesday. His attitude encouraged volunteering and positivity among the other students.

Scraper kids learn resilience and embody an excellent DIY-spirit. A nine year old was having a particularly rough day and suffered a flat tire. When he was told that one of us could help him fix it he said “I can do it myself” and proceeded to, indeed, do it himself.

I couldn’t be more proud of the students that came through the program over the winter. They show us how effective bikes are, not only as a mode of transportation, but also as a learning tool and a community builder. If only we all got to be scraper kids…

Posted in Education, Kids on bikes, Photos | No Comments »

Major Taylor parents love Earn-a-Bike

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 by Emma Epstein

Last Thursday’s Earn-a-Bike session was a significant milestone in the development of the Major Taylor Project. For the first time ever, the celebratory end of the session—where students are awarded locks, lights and helmets and ride their bike home for keeps—was coupled with an invite to all parents, family and friends of the students. We sent letters home and called, letting families know that they were valued as part of the Major Taylor Project and that we would love to meet them. We acknowledged the importance of formalizing relationships with guardians early on in the year, especially if we are going to convince them to let their child ride with us in July on the epic 206 miles of STP.

Around 4 p.m., as students were tweaking final screws, test riding outside, or rummaging through boxes of Cascade swag (leftover event shirts), parents began to arrive, delighted to see what their kids have undertaken the past few

weeks. More than ten parents and siblings came, including a mother whose son couldn’t come because he had to another school commitment.

One mother, who spoke to me confidentially in Spanish, told me how her son was failing some of his classes and that the bike club was the only place her son really excelled. She had asked her boss for the afternoon off, to be present and support her son engaging in what he was most passionate about. I told her how helpful and productive her son was in the club and that Major Taylor Project was considering instituting a grade standard for enrollment in the program.

Once all the parents had arrived, we stood around in our customary ice-breaking circle; this time, the parents had to be involved. The theme for the game was to share your name, and not your favorite fruit, but if you were a fruit, what fruit would you be. We tossed around the conventional, “talking” bike tube, as we transformed into artichokes, strawberries and apples.

After the intro game, Serena Lehman and Erica Hann of Cascade led an activity to engage residents in the process of helping SeaTac become a more accessible place for bikers and pedestrians. In order to accommodate for some of the parents who had Limited English Proficiency (LEP), the students led their parents around to the various questions posted on the wall.

This event allowed parents to see what goes on in bike club and the opportunity to offer their support and approval. It provided a space for parents to ask questions like, “how the heck do you get the resources to run a program like that?” The principal of Global Connections, Rick Harwood, a “blackberry,” took his time illuminating just how much Major Taylor Project adds to the school. This is a program that the students, the school and staff, and the parents can all get behind.

Posted in Education, Kids on bikes, Major Taylor Project | No Comments »

Major Taylor takes on a cyclocross race

Monday, December 19th, 2011 by Emma Epstein

The group of nine bunched up, geared with new cyclocross tires on Redline bikes, ready for the Woodland Park Cyclecross Race. The air was crisp, but clear. Hundreds of people were shouting. On Sunday, Nov. 13, students in the Major Taylor program and members of Cascade staff (first Cyclocross race ever for yours truly and first race for Ed Ewing in 15 years), rode around the muddy, leaf-covered, race-track with almost 1,000 other riders of all ages.

Before the race, the students were firing up on hot cider and warm, homemade cinnamon rolls that Robin Randels brought and served. (Thanks Robin!) For those who had ridden a cyclocross race before, they knew what to expect, and enjoyed showing off how muddy they were after multiple falls. For the newbie riders, they showed up after three rounds a little cleaner; they were riding a little more carefully.

After the race, the group went to Tutta Bella on Stone Way. They played tables games and chatted with each other and staff. An hour later, with nine pizzas consumed and bodies reinvigorated, they loaded up in the 16 passenger van and headed back with new experiences in the biking world.

That Sunday in the park would not have been possible without our collective efforts…our Major Taylor community. A big thank you goes to Union Gospel Mission and to AJ Campanelli for safe transportation and guidance. Thank you to Zac and Terry of MFG for donating registration to the group.  Tutta Bella offers an astounding philanthropic deal for non-profits: 50% off your total bill and the tab for nine pizzas came to a whopping $56.00. This student experience could not have happened without your support…thank you!

Posted in Kids on bikes, Major Taylor Project, Racing | No Comments »

Spray paint, duct tape, flat tires and snake bites

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 by Erica Meurk

“What’s a snake bite?” Kat asks. The kids are sitting around the table in Cascade’s downstairs conference room, each holding a scrap of inner tube with a hole in it. And the obvious answer (which involves, of course, reptiles and teeth) is incorrect.

But luckily, Edward has been paying attention. “It’s when you don’t pump up your tires enough, and you go over a curb. And the rim of your wheel makes the double-hole.”

Score one for Edward!

Fall is underway, which means that on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Cascade’s downstairs conference room is crammed full of kids and bikes. The kids live in the transitional housing near Cascade’s offices in Magnuson Park, and they’re creating so-called “scraper bikes,” art bikes whose hallmarks are spray-painted frames and duct-taped spokes.

The kids get to keep the bikes they decorate after the program’s end, but there’s a catch: they have to learn to fix them first, starting with flat tires. They move on to brakes, wheels, chains and cassettes, and, once they’ve learned it all, they’re outfitted with a helmet and a lock. But they should consider themselves warned: “If we catch you riding without your helmet, we’ll take your bike away,” Kat admonishes.

We’re heading into our fourth session of our “Earn-A-Scraper” bike program, and we’re looking for eight donated BMX bikes of decent quality for these kids to fix up, decorate and ride. The bikes should be brand-name only — after all the work these kids put into them, we don’t want them to fall apart.

With questions or to donate, contact Kat Sweet at kat.sweet@cascadebicycleclub.org. Thank you!

Posted in Education, Kids on bikes | 1 Comment »

Bicycle maintenance parties: Why volunteers are awesome

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 by Elliott

It doesn’t take long working here at Cascade until one realizes just how important volunteers are. Over the past month I have been able to see, first-hand, just how much they do.

Over the winter break, we will be receiving bikes back from the schools that run our Basics of Bicycling program. Trailers full of 20″-wheeled, coaster-braked BMX bikes have already started piling up and the work to maintain them during the “off-season” has started in earnest. Each trailer has 30 bikes inside, most in need of basic maintenance. Some in need of something a little more intensive.

Through November I’ve had the pleasure of leading teams of volunteers on Wednesday nights to come in and get these little bikes back in rolling condition. We’ve changed countless tubes and tires, tightened a mind-boggling number of bolts and lubed over 100 chains. Some bikes have needed to have seats replaced, hubs repacked and bottom brackets cleaned and tightened.

They’re a dedicated bunch, these Bike Maintenance Party Heroes. They come in on blustery nights to enjoy pizza and work on bikes they’ll never get to ride themselves. Some are members of Cascade, some are employees and some live as far south as Tacoma. Some are even members of elementary schools in the area (our tire-pump champions!). All are committed to the cause, though. Every night, and it never fails, at least one or two of the ladies or gentleman attending tell me they “want to help get kids excited about bikes.” And if this is how you can help, by keeping their little cycles in good working order, that’s awesome. Your help doesn’t go unnoticed.

Last Wednesday I had to delicately respond to some volunteers why I postponed the prior week’s maintenance party. When I told them I went home for Thanksgiving and that I assumed people would want the holiday off they simply said, “I would’ve come in, no problem.”

We have more bikes to get through – five more sets of 30, to be exact. Bike maintenance parties will be happening on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 through December (except the 28th) and also on the first three Wednesdays in January.

Until the next party, though, I’m giving a shout out to all of our awesome volunteers so far: Sue, Ralph, Andrew, Rebecca, Chris, Jenny, Bent, Robin, Xavier, Peter, Saul and Erica: you are all rock stars!

If you’d like to get on the bike maintenance volunteer list to receive party notifications, please drop me an email. We’d love to have you join us.

Posted in Education, Kids on bikes, Volunteer | No Comments »

“Carrying 70 pounds of kids keeps me warm.”

Friday, December 2nd, 2011 by Erica Meurk

This article first appeared as the Cyclist of the Month column in the December 2011 issue of the Cascade Courier, our membership newsletter.

Cyclist of the Month: MADI CARLSON
Age: 39
Occupation: Stay at home mom
Wheels: Bianchi Milano

Madi Carlson isn’t afraid of the cold or the rain. And neither is her cargo.

All winter long, Madi rides with her kids – Brandt, who’s four-and-a-half years old, and Rijder, who’s just two – strapped into seats mounted to the front and rear of her Celeste Green Bianchi Milano city bike. The bike was a “push present,” given to her by her husband just before Rijder was born. Brandt’s been riding with her since he was a one-year-old, “strong enough to hold his head up.” With Rijder, she started even earlier, towing him in a Burley trailer when he was just eight weeks.

Impressed? So was I. I wanted to know: Who is this woman, and how does she do it? What motivates her? The notion that she’s saving our planet from excess CO2 emissions? Or that she’s instilling the value of active transportation in her children?

But Madi’s motivations are far from grandiose.

“I’m lazy. And I’m incredibly cheap,” she said. “Coming here in a car, I would’ve had to park four blocks away to avoid paying for parking.”

(more…)

Posted in Commuting, Cyclist of the Month, Kids on bikes | 4 Comments »

Sand Point Elementary: Building a friendship

Friday, October 21st, 2011 by Elliott

Today I will be meeting with Dan Warren, principal of Sand Point Elementary. It will be the first connection the Cascade Bicycle Club’s Education Foundation has made with any staff from the school here in North Seattle. The meeting will be focused on grant proposals and, if you could call it such, “business.” But for me as, a rookie intern, it goes beyond that.

I’m pretty new to this organization (and by “new” I mean “I’ve been here for two weeks”) but without a doubt, in every aspect of my experience here, the mission statement of the club has been resoundingly strong. All of the staff, both paid and voluntary, take this very seriously: “Creating a better community through cycling.” I have noticed it in how welcome the staff has made me and other new Americorps feel. I have noticed it in how the Basics of Bicycling program reaches from North Seattle to Lake Washington to South Park. Now I get to see the statement come to life in our very own backyard.

Over the past two weeks I’ve come to see how much Cascade has grown in just the last few years. As the Club has grown so has its mantra: keep everybody involved, be inclusive. It has expanded its programs to include many areas of the Seattle Metro region but it’s important to remember that our community is right out our back door, too. Across the grasses of Magnuson Park and through the intersection of Sand Point Way and 65th is a small elementary school that we have yet to forge a relationship with. Today is the first step towards not just a new demographic and a new body of students and parents but also the first step towards a new friendship.

Posted in Kids on bikes | No Comments »

Photos: Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 by M.J. Kelly
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On Saturday, 230 kids and adults took over Duthie Hill Park for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. We dodged the rain, rode the trails, ooooed and aaaahed to a great jump show with lots of junior riders, had and tons of fun. Thanks to Rob Harrison for taking photos.

Posted in Kids on bikes, Mountain biking, Trip reports | No Comments »

Kids take Duthie Hill on Saturday

Friday, September 30th, 2011 by M.J. Kelly

On Saturday, rain or shine, kids (and their grown-ups) will be taking on the trails at Duthie Hill Park for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. Kids, grab your grown-up and get out to Issaquah!

Schedule:
9 a.m. – 10 a.m. Registration at LDS Church Parking Lot
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Trail Rides
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Jump Jam
2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Drawing for Prizes

This event is for kids age 6 and older who are riding a two-wheel bike. It’s not a drop-off, so adults, plan to get out on those trails, too. Just think! Kids who start like this may end up doing this.

Thanks to our community partners: King County Parks, IMBA, Gregg’s Cycles, Bicycles West, Clif Kid, Team Dirt Corps, Project 529, and the Sturdy B’s.

Posted in Kids on bikes, Mountain biking | No Comments »

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