Bobby D. Richardson gives students a balanced education in his Bike Tech classes. Photo by Dain Zaffke.
Bobby D. Richardson has been working on bikes for 33 years, but he didn’t start teaching people about them until September. Now the former bike mechanic instructs students at Scotts Valley High School in how to work on bikes, thanks to joint funding from the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Project Bike Trip, a nonprofit that’s gearing up for a bike-a-thon fundraiser on behalf of students next month.
Bike Tech classes, offered at six of the county’s nine high schools, are getting students like Richardson’s stoked about learning.
“They’ve been really excited about it,” says Richardson, who received his vocational teaching credential this year. “The feedback I’ve gotten is that it’s like no other class that they have, mostly because it’s hands-on and authentic.”
Bike Tech offers lessons in reading, math and history—all applied to the two-wheeled 19th-century invention. Students read manuals and study bike history. “It’s right here, right now. There’s no fidgeting or daydreaming in this class,” says Richardson, 60. “It demands your attention all the time.”
The first annual Two Wheeled Drive, cosponsored by Ecology Action and Project Bike Trip, will challenge people to set goals for how much they bike during the month of May. Participants make a personal challenge, for example like riding to work every day. Then they turn to family and friends to pledge money toward their efforts and the causes.
In addition to Bike Tech, the drive is also raising money for Bike Club, which meets at two middle schools each week, and Bike Smart, an Ecology Action program that teaches elementary school children about cycling safety. Project Bike Trip Director Katie DeClercq says her goal is to raise $25,000.
“It’s a lot, but it’s what I’m going to shoot for,” DeClercq says. “And I hope people are going to shoot high as well.”
As a baseline, DeClercq hopes to raise at least $12,000 in cash to match the $12,000 in prizes that have been donated to the cause. Prizes range from an Ibis Hakkalügi bicycle, valued at over $4,000, to a Giro helmet and tires made by San Rafael-based Wilderness Trail Bikes.
Other prizes reward meeting certain thresholds—like a Park Tool super patch kit for raising $100. Participants can earn bigger ticket items like Giro gloves, iPhone cases and bike saddles for raising more.
DeClercq expects to expand Bike Tech to a seventh high school next year. She says the money from the fundraiser will pay for new bikes, bike stands, wrenches, wheel-truing stands and work benches.
Offshoots
In some ways Bike Month is a natural outgrowth of its predecessor, Bike to Work Day, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in Santa Cruz this year on May 10.
Fifteen years ago, as Bike to Work Day grew in popularity, Ecology Action launched Bike to Work Week. Now environmentalists are upping the ante again with Bike Month.
With each step, cycling becomes more normalized. The first Bike to Work Day had 200 participants. Last year the entire week, combined with an extra Bike to Work Day in October, had a combined ridership of 12,000. The first event in 1987 had two breakfast sites. This year, Ecology Action is planning 15. The goal, says Ecology Action’s Piet Canin, is to change people’s commuting habits.
“It’s not about a week in spring or a day in October,” says Canin, who has been involved in Santa Cruz’s Bike to Work Week from the beginning. “It’s about getting people to work with their schedule to take a bike ride a week, at least.”
Those who participate this May in the month-long Two-Wheeled Bike Drive will see the added benefit of their cycling and hard work going to support students who want to get some hands-on experience. Richardson says every bit helps.
“We could always use more money to keep things going,” Richardson says. “Bikes are always entropy in action. You always need new equipment. Money buys small parts so that we don’t have student buying small parts out of pocket.”
