Khalix Parson, 12, gets help with his helmet from Sue Ellen Klein of Neighborhood Bike Works. The program lets youths earn bikes by fixing them and working on related projects. (Ron Tarver / Inquirer)

Philadelphia Inquirer
Dec. 4 2000

Young people learn the power of bicycling

Jeeps are wonderful, but the ultimate sport-utility vehicle is the bicycle. It may not have four-wheel-drive, but it's propelled by quad-power - the mighty muscles in your thighs.

So when Sue Ellen Klein invited me to join the second annual Turkey Ride, I needed little persuasion.

"Turkey" refers to the fact that the ride takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It has nothing to do with the behavior of the participants, except for those cyclists (like this scribe) who routinely neglect to wear a helmet. Hence the ride's slogan: "Don't be a turkey; wear a helmet."The ride was sponsored by Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW). Originally an offshoot of the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley, NBW now has quarters in the basement of the parish hall of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, on the University of Pennsylvania campus at 40th and Locust Walk.

It's one nifty community organization. Neighborhood Bike Works conserves wealth by recycling old bikes, bikes that people throw out, bikes that people donate. But it does much more. It not only rebuilds bikes, it builds young people and future bike lovers.

The bikes are fixed up by kids for kids. After school and on weekends, kids from the neighborhood - all African American, mostly boys, between the ages of 8 and 16 - show up at the workshop to learn how to repair and maintain bikes. They also learn about bike safety, health and nutrition, and respecting the environment.

By attending a weekly two-hour class for 10 weeks, and participating in other activities such as bike rides and shop cleanups, the youths earn bike hours. Twenty-five will get them a rugged mountain bike; around 40, a hot BMX trick bike. Plus a helmet and bike lock.

Over the last year, about 80 kids have gone through the program, and 150 bikes have been recycled (some youngsters earn more than one; unfashionable 10-speeds are sold to Penn students to raise money).

"This is about creating opportunities through cycling," says Klein, director of community programs at the White Dog Cafe and president of NBW's board. "Philadelphia has a big biking community, and for those who love cycling and are committed to cycling as a means of transportation, this provides a neat synergy, combining community outreach, youth development and a wonderful sport."

Fifteen kids showed up for the Turkey Ride, all wearing yellow T-shirts that brightened the autumnal drear. They were chaperoned by an equal number of adult volunteers and cycling enthusiasts, including a uniformed member of Penn's campus bike patrol and John Dowlin, a cycling crusader who has enough style sense to emulate me by riding a bike with a milk crate on back.

Leading the pack was Leland Mayne, 42, an NBW board member who commutes by bike between Overbrook and Penn, where he does research in biophysics and biochemistry. He heard about NBW from neighborhood children whose flats he fixed. After visiting the workshop, he got hooked. NBW is volunteer work with palpable rewards. Said Mayne: "I get to tinker with bikes."

Bringing up the rear was Andy Dyson, NBW's program coordinator, who was captaining a tandem towing a cart full of emergency supplies. A congenial man with a ponytail and British accent (he grew up in northeastern England), Dyson, 40, teaches the bike-repair class. He also runs the shop, which means he tries to impose order on merry chaos. An ace mechanic, he's an alum of Via Bicycle, the venerable Center City bike shop, and Bilenky Cycle Works, the custom bike builder in Olney.

"It's just great working with young people and exposing them to the bicycle as something more than a toy," said Dyson, who doesn't own a car.

The Turkey Ride route threaded through West Philadelphia, via 42d and 41st Streets, to Fairmount Park. Of course, everyone wore a helmet (including me, the macho hardhead), and we tried to ride single file (for the most part), to obey traffic signs and signals, to cross trolley tracks carefully, to watch for broken glass, and to rein in youthful exuberance by refraining from weaving and popping wheelies.

My cycling partner was Klein, 59, whose devotion to cycling is manifest in her slim figure. The joy of NBW is using cycling to broaden the lives of kids whose experience is limited, she told me. Bike rides in the countryside and trips to places such as the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pa., open eyes and horizons.

Her dreams for NBW include opening a community bike shop, recycling old bike parts into jewelry, candlesticks, picture frames, etc., organizing bike trips across the state, and - who knows? - maybe across the country some day.

For the most part, the Turkey Ride was an easy cruise. The only difficult stretch was near the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, with the climb up Georges Hill. Meron Ayele, 13, stood up on his pedals and churned to the summit, but several other kids ran out of steam and were forced to dismount and walk. I recalled what Klein had said: These youths are capable of marvelous stunts, executed in short bursts of energy, but many are surprisingly unfit and lacking in stamina.

At the top of the hill, there was a big payoff (and relief from the finger-numbing chill) - roasting hot dogs and chestnuts, hot chocolate and apple cider, as well as all manner of energy-replenishing munchies.

There, Christopher Bunch, 13, proudly showed me his electric-blue BMX bike and where his face got skinned on the track at Trexlertown.

Sergio Diggs, 15, who's enrolled in the automotive academy at West Philadelphia High, is a youth assistant at NBW. "I help kids with things they find difficult, their homework and mechanical things," he explained. He believes NBW is making a difference.

"It's a good way to keep kids from getting into trouble," he said. "They come in after school and do something constructive."

Art Carey's e-mail address is acarey@phillynews.com

For more information about Neighborhood Bike Works or to donate a bike, call 215-386-0316 or visit www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org