Triangle Bikeworks Finds A Way Forward ~ A Mile Markers Newsletter

By Kevin Hicks

Triangle Bikeworks

Kevin Hicks

Excutive Director

Triangle Bikeworks Finds A Way Forward A Mile Markers Newsletter

Also This Month Memories of King 2 King 2014 Every tour we encourage the youth to keep journals. During our 2014 King to King tour we partnered with the Dream Team in Atlanta. Here is a journal entry from one of our veteran cyclists about her experiences. Joanna The last four days of the King 2 King tour have been a blast! I spent those days keeping up with the front of the group or at least trying to. Which I found astounding because we all manage to find a great pace for everyone. Those last days weren’t beaming HOT but I did get a funny tan line. The final riding day was going into Washington, DC and onto the National Mall, which I loved because we either took (command of) the lane (bikes only, no cars beside us) or we were a long line of bikes which caught the attention of everyone. Seeing the expressions on their faces just made me smile. Like when we were crossing the Lincoln Memorial we passed by a large crowd of people and they began clapping for us. That has never happened before. Especially for our large group. I found this tour to be very successful and I believe partnering with another youth team had to be one of the best ideas ever! I will miss the Dream Team, but I’m proud of SnR, too. P.S. This was also my first time sleeping in a tent in a thunder storm. I loved it!

Spoke’n Revolutions Program Update Like most youth serving nonprofits we’re adjusting to what we’re all hoping is not the New Normal but it is definitely something New. The Stay-At-Home orders have certainly made us pause our everyday lives. And some reports show philosophers saying that’s a good thing.Triangle Bikeworks is making the best of it. When we’re on tour often strange and unexpected things happen that throw us off our game. We’re accustomed to adjusting on the fly. Our goal on tour is to keep everyone safe, sane, and happy. We don’t see this as any different. Innovating Even though we can’t gather as a team we are continuing our pre-tour learning through a book study. Ensuring we continue enriching the lives of young people. We’re really loving how our book study is going, so much so, that we have added book studies as part of how we engage in learning about untold history. We’ve already begun thinking of the next book: Angelou Ezeilo’s book, Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders.

Every Sunday, for the last four weeks, we’ve been getting together for a book study. The book we’re studying/reading now is Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. Released in March 2020, it’s a collaboration of award winning author Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Reynold’s book is an adaptation of Kendi’s book Stamped from the Beginning. The book is for teens and young adults and serves to start a conversation among them about race and racism in America. Reynolds says, “I think that we have a rare opportunity to give the historical context of how we made it here today. This is the definitive history of race in America from the 1400s to today. It isn’t about how to fix it per se. It’s just about contextualizing why it is the way it is.” Do you have any books you’d recommend? Email your suggestions to ride A Commitment To Do No Harm Restorative practices has helped us intentionally build strong relationships and build community with our youth ensuring that we have the space to have open conversations where we can all learn from each other and grow. Itza and Educational Designer, Michelle, are both trained in Restorative Practices which helps us ensure the children’s needs are met and we stay open to conversation. Getting Back On The Road After over two months of “hanging out” indoors the youth let us know they can’t wait to get back on the road. We can’t wait either so we’re quickly updating and adding new protocols to make that happen and ensure we minimize risks. I spoke to one parent and we discussed any concerns she had. After the conversation we developed a prototype practice ride and implemented a new protocol that allowed for one to one riding. Next we’ll meet with all parents to present our changes and hear them address any additional concerns. Ultimately, helping us create a comprehensive set of policies that will allow us to continue moving forward with training.

A Holiday Wish For All

Happy Holidays from Triangle Bikeworks A Mile Marker Newsletter Also This MonthTour Planning It’s dang near Dead Winter and I know most of you aren’t …