Getting on the right path–a bike path! Help provide Bicycle Safety and Repair training at Monterey County’s youth treatment center.

(Photo ID and credit below.)

Bear Bikes and Bobcat Bicycles of Salinas plus nationally renowned local companies Light & Motion and SIDI America have committed to being part of the solution in helping youth to stay away from gang relationships, by helping them find their place in the bike community.  (More on their involvement below.)

And on February 9, a master bike builder and mechanic (name to be announced soon) committed to serving as a volunteer instructor!

There’s still…

A vital role to fill

An instructor is needed to teach bike maintenance/repair and safety

BICYCLE REPAIR INSTRUCTOR | SALINAS – Monterey County Youth Center needs you! Volunteer to teach 3 boys ages 14-17 to repair and maintain bikes. Officer present. Bike community support ready; see “Getting on the Right Path” at BicyclingMonterey.com. 375-6278.

One up, one more to go

February 9, 2012 was a beautiful day in Monterey County, especially because one of the most respected bike technicians in our county responded to a mention of the Youth Center’s need.  Yes, he said, I’ll teach. 

This response is even better than was hoped for! Not only will the Youth Center teens have an instructor, they’ll have the very best–a man who is well known for custom bikes and service, including pro builds for road, mountain, and cyclocross. 

I’m even more delighted since, while he’s a master of his trade, his quiet humility regarding his talents  is apparent.  As Aristotle put it, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”  This teacher’s manner will make him an even more valuable role model for the boys he’ll share his trade with.

Now one more volunteer is needed to get this class off the ground!  This second volunteer would job-share this volunteer teaching position, since demands of race season make it impossible for the first volunteer to teach every week.

Maybe you or someone you know will be the second instructor, the person who is the missing piece to getting the class rolling!

Here’s the full scoop:

Why?

Every child is precious!  Yet, for a variety of reasons, as kids grow, some take a serious fall on the road of young life, with major repercussions.  And some engage in behavior that lands them in the juvenile court system.

At the Monterey County Youth Center, such local teenaged boys are provided treatment aimed at steering them away from the pressures of gang violence and other crimes–and getting them on a path to a healthier, happier, more rewarding life. 

Youth enter the Center at ages 14 to 17; some may turn 18 while completing their treatment at the Center.

Hey, can a bike class really make a difference?

The need is great for a broad community effort to prevent youth violence in Monterey County, which has the highest youth homicide rate in California. Learn more by reading the links in “Salinas Youth and Others for Bikes.”

Preparing for a 2/7/12 presentation to the Board of Supervisors, the Monterey County Health Department’s Linda McGlone stated to the Salinas Californian, “We are hoping that community members and agencies come to truly believe that these deaths and shootings can be prevented.”

Julia Reynolds reported in a Monterey Herald 10/27/11 story that Senior Probation Officer Dawn Allen “cautioned the charges sometimes sound overly ominous — a robbery can mean taking another kid’s iPod and an assault can be a charge stemming from a schoolyard brawl.

“[Probation Chief Manuel] Real said that doesn’t mean the crimes aren’t often serious, but today’s model for juvenile justice is based on evidence-based treatment methods that provide better results than plain old punishment.”

Equip youth to know the benefits of bicycling

The Youth Center wants to offer a small number of their youth a weekly on-site Bicycle Maintenance/Repair and Safety class. 

Need some inspiration?  Check out the picture above, and the links below, under “Further background and related inspiration.”  Then help get scenes like the one pictured here happening in Salinas, at the Youth Center.  (Photo is a scene from a bike repair/tech ed class at a Santa Cruz County high school.)

Your volunteering can help fight gang violence on a shoestring–let’s make that a bike shoe shoestring!

The Monterey County Youth Center bike class would involve three to six youth, with one or two adult volunteers providing the instruction. 

A Youth Center officer will be present throughout every class.

The youth in the class will be those who have been at the Youth Center a long time, are settled in, and have been screened to participate in the class.

Got bikes?

Yup, got bikes for the Youth Center class.  There are already bicycles available on which the youth could learn bike maintenance and repair skills.

And there is also the possibility of class participants earning a bike:  Those who graduate from the Center in good standing may be given a bike to take with them upon graduation.

That’s especially good news!  When I viewed the work of teen artists at the Youth Center who were painting or sculpting bicycles, some quietly admitted that although they loved bikes, they didn’t actually own any bicycle to ride.

See “Who’s onboard to help” for what else graduates in good standing can look forward to.

The physical space for bike instruction

On-site at the Monterey County Youth Center, there is a storage unit with a roll-up door storing those at-the-ready bicycles, just waiting for a volunteer who can help the teens get them into use! 

There is also an empty unit, also with a roll-up door, that is available for class instruction.  (Awesome!  Think open-air classroom, instead of being stuck indoors.)

Although bicycle field trips cannot take place at this time, there is space on the secure, fenced-in premises for riding, to practice bike safety skills.

Class days and times

The class would be once a week, on Sunday.  It is suggested that the class period be approximately 90 minutes to two hours, although a one-hour class could also be possible.

About volunteering

All volunteers must be approved through a background check.  Of course, a congenial and mature attitude, and an ability to follow through on commitment, are essential. 

Volunteers receive a Monterey County Youth Center volunteer orientation.

If you are otherwise a good potential volunteer but are not completely confident about your bike knowledge–that is, you aren’t sure of being able to teach sound skills in regard to both bicycle maintenance/repair and safety–please contact me (831-375-6278).  When the help of experts is required for such purposes, free support can be arranged from members of local bike clubs or other members of the bike community.   Light & Motion (see below) has already offered to help with education on safe night riding.

Volunteers have made classes possible for instruction including gardening, guitar, and knitting.  Let’s get bicycle maintenance/repair and safety added to that list!

Think you might be up for it?

Please contact me (831-375-6278) for more information.

Who’s onboard to help?

Light & Motion

Light & Motion, world-renowned for their fabulous bike lights and more, have agreed to help.

Light & Motion will be donating commuter bike lights to the Youth Center for the first youth graduates of a bike repair and safety class. 

Light & Motion’s Heidi Hall promptly offered that Light & Motion could also assist the volunteer weekly class instructor/s in providing some education about how to ride smart and safe at night.

SIDI America

As the best racers know, SIDI America is a market leader when it comes to shoes for cyclists.  They care about top athletes in need of top-performing shoes. And they care about motivating and encouraging teens in a Monterey County Youth Center bike class to see their work there to completion, and in good standing.

One of those youth will be awarded a pair of SIDI shoes–SIDI’s best-selling mountain bike shoe, the Dominator 5.   SIDI knows that a Youth Center graduate who is seriously interested in more time on his bike will find those bike hours all the more enjoyable if he has good shoes on his feet!

This world-renowned company has a motto of “Fit to perfection. Fit to perform.” And when it’s time for graduation, SIDI has offered to bring their 24-foot fitting van to the Youth Center, so those shoes will fit that graduate exactly as they are intended to.

Every member of the class who graduates in good standing will be recognized with a SIDI t-shirt.

Bear Bikes and Bobcat Bicycles

These Salinas bike shops know it often takes a community joining together to make good things happen. Got shoes, yes, but what about the necessary SPD pedal to go with those SIDI shoes?  And how about some good socks to make those pedaling feet more comfy after many a mile?

Thanks to Bear Bikes for jumping in with an offer to provide SPD pedals, and to Bobcat Bicycles for donating socks to go with that graduate’s shoes. 

Even when the economy is down, these guys are up–up to the challenge of playing a part in preventing youth gang activity and violence, one pedal stroke at a time.

Please stop in and visit them, and let them know you appreciate our local bike shops being part of the solution!

Summary of background and related inspiration

At Bicycling Monterey:

• Salinas Youth and Others for Bikes:  Bikes make life better.
• Teaching children well:  Bicycle safety and bike tech education.

1/30/12 New York Times:  In Salinas, fighting gang violence on a shoestring.

Are you hesitant about how to talk with teens?

Hey, teenagers aren’t aliens, they’re just people ages 13-19!  (And at the Youth Center, they are ages 14-17+.)  Still, many people might think, “I’d like to do this, but need a little communication skills training so I feel more at ease working with teens.”

If that’s you, here’s a hot tip:  With regard to more positively working with youth, our county is especially fortunate to have a great resource in nationally renowned master teacher Selwa Said, and in her students and associates at Honey’s Children, who work with Monterey County Youth Center kids. You may request Selwa’s brochure regarding her weekend courses on Effective Communication and Relationship Building by contacting Honey’s Children or by phoning Selwa at 831-394-8860. 

Can’t commit to teaching regularly but want to help?

I have more ideas for how to expand on this bicycle repair, maintenance, and safety core class in ways that will help fuel teens’ interest in biking! Those ideas are just waiting for your expression of interest.  Please contact me.

* * * * *

Top photo ID and credit

Thanks to Project Bike Trip for the photo from the Santa Cruz County high school at the top of this post.

Some Monterey County teens are relatively problem-free–

and out enjoying the freedom of the bikeways regularly, such as, the teens below. 

(FYI, the teens pictured below are from the general community.  None of the teens in this post are from the Monterey County Youth Center.)

The following youth are bike-loving role models for their peers. These teens know the many benefits that biking provides, including:

an economical and environmentally friendly form of  transportation….

and a great way to skip traffic…..

a safe and sane form of recreation…

an exciting activity to share with family and friends…

health-building exercise…

and a positive adrenal boost!

Dear Bike Community:

Please help prepare more Monterey County youth for the benefits of bicycling by volunteering to make a Monterey County Youth Center bike class happen!

Please contact me (831-375-6278) to discuss this class. For general questions, you may also contact Richard A. Gray, Deputy Director for the Monterey County Youth Center, at 831-759-6700.

–Mari Lynch