With support from WALKSacramento, I sent out a press release about the success of the Leroy F Greene Academy Bike Club’s initiation of a $15,000 bike trail improvement. Unexpectedly, within 10 minutes of sending out the email, I was contacted by Jouron Bourque of iHeartMedia in Sacramento. Today, I drove to their local station headquarters to record an interview. 
Fun! The segment was aired between 5-7 am on Sunday December 14.
What a great group of kids. Four girls today and quite eager to learn the parts of a bicycle, especially since it was raining and we couldn’t go outside.
Students used address labels to write the names of the parts and stuck them to one side of the bike.
This is the beginning of a photo project.
Meanwhile Mr Brownell had to deal with a small flood in the workroom for 3 classrooms.
There was some misty rain, but I set up a simple course anyway to practice riding in hazardous conditions and using the stop and right turn hand signals. It had been a minimum day with parent conferences – a challenge for good attendance. Hurray for the four girls who showed up! There were only two bicycles and were generously shared.
Lindsey zooms by.
Mr Brownell is the staff advisor.
(Honestly I needed to go to work this afternoon, the past two weeks have been difficult. Coaching this bicycle club is so rewarding, such a happy place with eager learners. After the club meeting, I went to my friend Maria’s and that’s when I got the phone call, Mom had passed away. Her suffering was over.)
A couple of weeks ago, no one showed up, but today – Hurray! – there were 11 mostly 4th and 5th graders present.
I shared many ways this bicycle club could develop and tried to find out what the students were interested in. Teacher Luke Brownell is the staff advisor and Miha Tomuta of WALKSacramento is the administrator of the program that funds my LCI coaching position.
As the school year neared its end, we met for a final time and instead of conducting any business, we hopped on our bikes and rode the shortest distance to Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream.
L-R: LaTraye (eating TWO triple-scoops in waffle cones!), Julian, Adam, Jack.
The “sword” Jack is wielding is actually a skateboard and LaTraye’s ice cream is almost gone. Youthful ice cream appetite!
Coaching the LGA Bike Club was so much fun this year. I can’t wait to do it again next year. WALKSacramento is looking for ways to expand bicycle education into middle and high schools. I think our club is the only one of its kind in the region and was deemed a huge success this year. Working for and with Monika and Miha at WALKSacramento has been a dream, they were supportive and encouraging and gave me a lot of creative freedom. Megan McManus, the club advisor, was equally supportive and encouraging and I compliment her on all the volunteer hours she put in to host every club meeting and to go on every Saturday ride.
Today I went to Megan’s presentation for her WorkAbility project which included the Bike Club. I had no idea our after-school club played such an important role in her project.
There were 3 presentations by teachers in different programs.
This was our biggest ride of the year. We met at Leroy F Greene Academy at 8 am and rode 4.5 miles to the Amtrak station in downtown Sacramento.
L-R: Adam, Jack, Julian
We got on the Capitol Corridor train heading west. We had to board the car with bicycle storage.
The bikes are stored upright and it’s not that easy to lift the bike up and secure it. We were lucky to have Adam’s dad, Brian, join us on this ride.
We got off at the first stop, Davis. Today was Loopalooza – a 12 mile bike loop with 12 stations of information and activities. We started at Station 7 – keeping your bike secure. There was a raffle here and Julian won! – a U-lock and cable locking system.
We watched a game of cricket for a few minutes.
Jack gets advice from a bicycle mechanic.
Coach was proud when everyone completed the drill course using all appropriate signals.
No problems on the figure 8 course either.
We rode the entire loop and ended back where we started. We received a group certificate!
We had a quick lunch and rode back to the train station. Back in Old Sacramento:
Total miles = 23. Another very successful ride.
Today WALKSacramento held a Bike Rodeo at a local elementary school.
Miha, left, made a presentation in the cafeteria. Terry, right, helped at the helmet fitting station. In the background, Bike Mike from Natomas Bike Shop readies his bike repair station.
Mark and Terry made sure each free helmet was adjusted properly. Students could also decorate their helmets with cool stickers. 
This station taught pedestrian safety.
I was in charge of the bicycle drills: riding straight, stopping, avoidance weave, signals for turns and stopping, scanning behind while continuing to ride straight, and a few slow races. 
Here’s some good news from our bike club meeting today. Captain LaTraye is holding the winner of the logo design contest. It will be the design on our club t-shirts.
I forgot to mention that LaTraye also found the “best” road treasure on the last bike ride.
Thank you, Ms McManus for locating a better-sized bicycle for Alex. Congratulations Alex for qualifying to go on the next club ride. Here is Alex with his dad:
And, good news regarding our email to Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen regarding the hazards noted on our last bike ride. We received a response from Consuelo Hernandez, District 4 Director along with his staff’s report. A Street Maintenance team determined the hazardous bike trail was not a City Class I bikeway, but rather a privately constructed path. A work order was created to remove the electrical panel box that Devin spotted. (Removed by March 9!) So far, a rather productive civics lesson.
Everyone arrived early at Leroy F Greene Academy. In fact, Devin (blue shirt) got there an hour early.
Waiting for Ms McManus.
At last.
ABCQuick Check and a review of the ride plan before we head out.
On the bike trail near Orchard Park. Adam is the student ride leader for this section.
Maintaining a ghost space (or a bit more) between riders.
Turtles sunning themselves on a log in the drainage canal.
I told the riders to be on the lookout for hazards. I had something specific in mind, but not what Devin spotted. Good job Devin.
We stopped for some hill climbing
and some fast descents.
At Heritage Oak Grove, we played an exercise-filled game of Jeopardy using the information from the plaques. Julian and LaTraye are running back with the question that goes with “The scientific name for Valley Oak.” (What is Quercus lobata?)
LaTraye, Adam, and Julian looked for an old rusted pulley high up in some oak tree in the park.
We spent some time practicing a proper left turn at a nearby low-traffic intersection. And then it was on to our ultimate destination, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream.
L-R: Adam, Julian, Captain LaTraye, Devin.
We practiced riding straight through a very busy intersection as a group. Everyone stepped on their power pedal as the light turned green. This is the beginning of the next section of bike trail. Everyone noticed that the access was not bicycle-friendly.
A sign warned of an uneven surface ahead.
It was much worse than that.
As a civics lesson, we sent an email regarding these hazards to Steve Hansen, the Sacramento City Supervisor for this area.
Julian pointed out a bush that needs trimming. It blocked half of the path.
This is what we do NOT want to happen. Note the gesture by LaTraye who really didn’t want to mess up his t-shirt by laying on the grass.
Heading back toward LGA.
A very successful and super fun 5-mile ride.
arletelouise 