By Bradley Bleck
Cover photo courtesy of River City Youth
While the bicycle’s superpower is getting its rider from Point A to Point B, that’s just the beginning. Bicycles also bring people together, serving as a catalyst to build community. One way that is happening in the Inland Northwest is with the River City Youth’s (RCY) bike bus in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood.
RCY executive director Kate Burke says, along with getting kids riding bikes, the bike bus is helping build the West Central community. She says there are lots of families who like to ride and are getting to know other kids, building skills by learning hand signals and understanding that they don’t need to be afraid of riding in the street.
RCY’s website describes the bike bus as “a group of students biking to school together under the supervision of adult volunteers. It’s like a traditional school bus, but on bicycles!” This “bus” takes kids to and from Holmes Elementary School in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood. The route starts at Salem Lutheran Church at the corner of Broadway and Mallon. Students and volunteers ride down Broadway, turning right at North A Street and making a second right at Sharpe. The ride home follows the route in reverse. Other volunteers guide riders from the West Central Community Center to the start of the ride and home again.
It’s not just the kids and their families who are touched by the bike bus. One volunteer is West Central resident Suzanne Jacobson, who, despite her children being grown, is a regular volunteer. Jacobson says that she is involved because “I learned to love cycling through enjoying the exercise, learning to know that my body’s stronger than I think it is. Plus, I love kids. I’m a parent. I’m a grandparent. I love cycling. I want the kids to have a safe experience riding to school while building their love of cycling.”
One manifestation of the community that the bike bus is building was the Halloween ride this past fall. Burke says that on Halloween, they picked 10 houses to trick-or-treat at right after school. “These people know about us and they see us all the time, so it was really cool to see we’re not just impacting the kids and their families but also the neighbors.”
Not only are the kids learning about their community, but they are learning bike safety. Burke says RCY volunteers teach the kids how to use their shifters, how to ride in the road and how to signal to drivers. Burke says that on Fridays after school, they’ll go on the Centennial Trail and ride around so they get more time to practice.
In the fall the bike bus runs from the beginning of the school year until Halloween. In the spring it restarts after Earth Day. Rides happen on Mondays and Fridays. Burke says the schedule helps participants get a start on their week while wrapping it up with a positive experience. “That being said, almost all of the kids wanna ride every day when we’re not there.”
Burke encourages anyone who is interested to either volunteer with the Holmes Bike Bus or to start one at their neighborhood school. “If you have a couple of people who are interested, just start doing it. As a parent, put out a notice at the school your kid goes to saying my kid and I are gonna ride from here to school these days of the week and we’d love to have you join us.”
Bradley Bleck last wrote about racing bikes in virtual reality. He wishes he had a bike bus when he was a child, even though it would have really been uphill both ways.
