Urban Riding
Our bicycle riding programs are run out of different schools on different days. Using a fleet of restored mountain bikes, BART, and the ferry.
We take 10-30 youth participants on exciting journeys to places of exceptional ecological, historical, and cultural interest all around the Bay Area. Examples of regular destinations are Dimond Park, Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland Museum, Coyote Hills, Wildcat Canyon, Mt. Diablo and Angel Island, but we have been to literally hundreds of places including Artship, Lindsay Museum and the 35th avenue Buddhist Temple. We regularly do service projects with other community organizations (riparian restoration with Friends of Sausal Creek and EBMUD, for example), participate in special events (parades, festivals, celebrations), and visit other local youth programs (Brookdale Science Center, Peralta After School Adventures). We have basically 2 main programs:
Beginners Training Course
Using an on-the-road curriculum developed by our ride leaders, students learn all the basics of safe urban cycling: fitting bikes and helmets, traffic rules, group riding procedures and defensive riding techniques. After 4-6 weeks of easy-to-moderate local rides, students have the skills, confidence, and working knowledge to use bicycles as their main form of transportation. Since we developed this program more than 3000 students at 13 schools have graduated from this course.
We also have a safety rides program, a four-week intensive training course for youth in how to ride safely in all urban traffic situations. This is an on-the-road instruction curriculum taught to small groups of youth by expert ride leaders. Program participants must graduate from this introductory course before joining the main rides.
Advanced Field Trips
Starting at their neighborhood school, youth ride to different destinations in the Bay Area. These unforgettable adventures give our youth the confidence to take on challenges, strengthen their bonds with diverse peers, and change the dimensions of the world they know. At the end of the year, Cycles’ most devoted and capable students are invited to a week-long bicycle touring expedition; the past three years’ tours have been to Point Reyes, Big Basin, and Lake Tahoe.
Bicycle Restoration Workshops
Over 2000 youth have earned their own restored bicycle, developing valuable skills while learning the practices of reuse. Guided by mechanics educators, students progress through a series of hands-on workshops and an
understanding of the bicycle’s inner workings.
After successfully completing the basic mechanics course, students put their skills into action by rebuilding a discarded bicycle to then use as their personal transportation. Upon completing the safe riding course, they receive a personal lock and helmet and are ready to ride!
