Saturday’s Joint Ride with b.i.k.e. Syracuse
Thursday, June 28th, 2007As part of this Saturday’s ride we’ve invited as our guests the children and volunteers of the b.i.k.e. Syracuse program and, in turn, I’d like to invite you to join us. For those of you aren’t familiar with b.i.k.e. Syracuse, it is a group that works with inner-city children through cycling. As they put it, they teach “personal responsibility, achievement and confidence through the development of practical skills, tutoring and simply having fun.” Much of this occurs through a bike ride every Saturday, and we’ll be joining them this Saturday. They are also in need of donations. Beyond what is listed there, I understand they also have a need for water bottles.
Like many fortunate people, poverty is pretty remote to me. You hardly see it here in B’ville. While I give to charity, honestly it is something I don’t think that much about. Since meeting Kat Oot-Coffey, who leads b.i.k.e. Syracuse, I’ve thought quite a bit about the less fortunate in our area. Two of her stories stick in my mind. In one, she mentioned that “their” kids’ possessions fit into one plastic bag. They need to move at a moment’s notice due to frequent changes in family circumstances (substance abuse, jail, and the like). Needless to say, it is VERY different than my childhood and I suspect of just about all club members. Second, their biggest expense is the breakfast they feed their kids before each Saturday ride.
Many want to take food home to their siblings as there isn’t enough there. I was very impressed by Kat’s dedication and insight into the lives of their kids.
This Saturday we have a chance to give a bit back to the community by riding with b.i.k.e. Syracuse. It is a really big deal for these kids to ride with adults who take time to share a fun activity. I’d also like to think it helps for the kids to
meet adults from outside their environment.
As Mark Gummer earlier said, Saturday’s ride starts at Onondaga Community College. We’ll ride down to Western Lights Plaza and then join the b.i.k.e. Syracuse group. Bob Spear and Wayne Miner have mapped out a joint 9-mile route. After the loop, riders can continue on the OCC routes (short for this time of year, so it should be easy to do all the rides). Or, optionally, you can share ice cream and pizza with b.i.k.e. Syracuse. Note that we might stop once or twice on the joint ride. After all, we’ll be riding with children on fairly heavy bikes. But, the rewards for us won’t be the distance or speed but doing a bit for the community in general and these kids specifically. It isn’t very often that by riding we get to help others.
Below you’ll find some questions and answers. But first, let me say that I hope you’ll join me on riding with b.i.k.e. Syracuse this Saturday.
- Bill
Question: Why is this the same day as Mark Gummer’s Jazz Fest ride?
Answer: We didn’t realize that we’d committed for two things on the same day until a few weeks ago. Also, a joint ride with b.i.k.e. Syracuse needs to start from the west side of town and we don’t have many of those.
Question: Why the short notice?
Answer: The Board invited b.i.k.e. Syracuse to join us on this ride a number of weeks ago. We do apologize for the short notice to our members, but we were addressing some logistical issues and this ride with the b.i.k.e. Syracuse children is just the first of what we hope will be more to come.
Question: Why wasn’t b.i.k.e. Syracuse at the crit like they were last year?
Answer: They were getting ready for their biggest ever fund-raiser and they didn’t feel they had volunteers to spare. Two weeks later they had some 30 volunteers for their event; that seems awfully credible for an organization in its second year.