The young riders stand next to their bikes and practice their ABCs before heading out on one of their regular Wednesday afternoon rides.
The second, third and fourth graders from Ochoa Elementary, at South Tucson’s John Valenzuela Youth Center, bend down to squeeze tires, test the brakes and make sure their bikes are safe for the road. The ABCs here mean: check the air, brakes, chains and cranks.
This is one of the safety checks students learn in the Ochoa Bike Club, which meets at the center, 1550 S. Sixth Ave., just south of West 22nd Street. The program is a partnership between the center and bicycle advocacy groups BICAS and South Tucson Safe Routes to School.
Each week 27 students enrolled in the program learn about traffic safety, proper bicycle riding habits and basic mechanical skills.
“We’ve had lots of parents who were sort of hesitant at first come to us and say how excited they are,” Carlyn Arteaga, Youth Program Coordinator at BICAS said. “They feel a lot more safe because they can see that their kids have learned these important things.”
The club started last fall when BICAS donated 25 identical, blue metallic bikes to the center after they sat in storage for over a year. Safe Routes provided the funding for the program.
Guillermo Valenzuela has two daughters in the program. He said it is important for programs like this to be in the city and that he likes that it encourages his daughters to ride bikes and exercise.
“I feel confident in myself for riding without training wheels because they taught me how to ride a bike,” Isaianna Valenzuela said.
In the past, Isaianna would beg her sister Sewa Valenzuela to ride bikes together. Now Sewa said she rides for fun with her sister and plans to continue riding and fixing bikes.
South Tucson residents are more likely to use alternative modes of transportation, like bicycles, buses and walking, than residents in other parts of Tucson, according to the 2009 report from the Pima Association of Governments.
But the lack of bike-friendly infrastructure, like bike lanes and bicycle crossings, can create unsafe riding conditions for kids, Arteaga said.
Along with Kristin McRay, Arteaga, creates drills and exercises to help prepare the students for what they might find on the road. The group sometimes goes on field trips to organizations within South Tucson, like a ride to The Garden Kitchen, 2205 S. Fourth Ave.
By knowing the rules of the road and having experience of learning to ride with traffic, kids in the program will be safer exploring their neighborhood, Arteaga said.
“We want them to feel like the neighborhood and the community is opening up to them,” Arteaga said.
“We’re not trying to be fast, we’re not trying to be the best, you know, kids bicycling team in the country.
“We are just trying to get kids excited about bikes.”
