Hey Everyone,
So I blabber my mouth a lot and that isn’t going to stop, but I’m also going to bring you a lot of photos in this update! A little bit over a week ago we had our end of the summer ride with our kids. We call this ride the Safe Streets Youth Ride. This year was our fourth annual and we just keep getting better. Check out all these happy riders below.
We started out in our back alley meeting up around noon. We invited our friends The Batata Shop along to make breakfast for everyone. Providing food before a ride is always a good idea. Most folks get really excited to get going, but on an empty stomach the excitement dies after two blocks and you end up with a really sluggish ride. We kept the momentum going the whole time.
When we were ready to go, Jack rallied the group and gave a short talk. Apparently what he said stuck because the group did a really good job staying together as a pack. When someone broke down we helped each other out. When the group got cut into two at a traffic light, we waited to repack with everyone. A group that cares about everyone bikes better together.
We took a break at Voight Park in the Boston/Edison Neighborhood. We then had the option to ride another 3 mile loop through Hamtramk. To my surprise most of the folks went on the optional loop to get some more miles in. A few of us remained at the park to take a rest. Among the resting group was the Eastside Riders. You can’t blame them for taking a break since they had ridden all the way from the Eastside to join up with us. They had more miles to do to get home.
When the group rejoined at the park we took off together down Third back to the shop. It was a nice ride and we all made it back to the shop together for a BBQ. As folks were enjoying some food our friend JT from L.I.V.E. spoke with the kids about his bike tour he recently went on and how they can live up to their potential.
The kids had just finished a 12 mile ride and he was letting them know he could do more. As he told his story another family showed up to the BBQ that had ridden all the way from 8 mile and Gratiot! They didn’t make it to the ride, but they definitely put in their miles for the day.
Overall, it was a wonderful day to be had with such great company. Lets do it again next year! Even though we are done with you rides for the year, our Youth Earn-a-Bike program will continue on Saturdays the rest of the year.
Of course, I need to mention that all these photos above were taken by our volunteer Chuan-Xing. And finally, our rides all summer were funded by the DALMAC Fund, we couldn’t have done it without them!