By Eric Oliver
You might think Portland’s dark winter months mean that kids aren’t too excited to be biking outside. But if you visited NWTA’s after-school programs at Vestal and Sitton Elementary Schools, you’d be proven wrong! This winter term, the stoke persisted through rainy days and cold winds, and we even spotted some sun at times, too.
When it comes to layering, kids are masters of innovation: all sorts of gear were on display–some intrepid souls at times refused adequate layers entirely, reveling in that wild “alive” feeling you get when you’re covered in wet and mud (parents: we’re sorry!). In her final reflections on lessons learned, one youth participant stared at me wide-eyed and said, “Always. Bring. A. Layer.” How many of us had internalized this important wisdom in fourth grade?
Jokes aside, the kids really thrived this term. I think the dark days make that “cooped up” feeling even more intense for kids, and I felt really grateful to be able to offer them an opportunity to embrace the wild weather on two wheels, and indeed, to come alive for the afternoon.
As is common in these sessions, the growth we saw was stellar. Lead coach Elaine Bothe, of Elaine B Bikes, has a superpower when it comes to new riders. “We had one kid who learned to ride this term and is now riding dirt trails and hills with confidence. Other kids who learned for the first time last term and one who barely knew how to ride this term at Montavilla were keeping up with the rest of the group by the end of the term.”
Most kids in our programs have had some experience on bikes, but few of them have ridden a mountain bike before. While most are past the training wheels phase, many kids have never used hand brakes, and very few have shifted gears. As the wider tires make easy work of small obstacles, you can see kids’ confidence increasing in real time. Potholes, divots, and roots transform from spots to avoid into features to seek out.
NWTA is continually working to improve and evaluate our programs, and began collecting data from youth participants so we can better understand our program’s impact and track our growth in the areas that matter most to our mission and to the kids. At the end of the term, NWTA provided certificates of completion to each participant, along with a survey for the kids and their families. Portland Design Works hooked us up with fun bike water bottles to round out the end-of-session sense of accomplishment. We really appreciate PDW for that thought, Trek for building up our bike fleet, and the entire SUN program here in Multnomah County for providing programs like SUN to families–and inviting us in to offer mountain biking experiences to kids, many for the first time.
I’ll sign off with the wise words of another participant, pausing to look back at our team loading up the bikes after our last session. “Never forget you’re a biker!” Deal? Deal.