Major Taylor rides the STP

This weekend is the Cascade Bicycle Club’s Seattle to Portland Ride and four of our teenagers will be making the trip with a larger group from the Cascade bike club! I asked one of my young friends how he was feeling about the ride and he said that he was excited but also a bit nervous. I think it’s amazing that Fabian and his friends have decided to push the limits a little and do something out of their comfort zone. What a great way to spend the weekend! Doing something you never dreamed you’d ever do! What I can’t wait for is the fall when he returns to school and the satisfaction he will feel when people ask, “What did you do this summer?”…

The YES Foundation and Cascade have a common vision about all kids having access and opportunity to ride bikes. Seems simple doesn’t it? However, we have been asking the question, “How do we create a bicycle riding culture in White Center?” for years. It seems serendipitous that Cascade Bicycle Club would launch the Major Taylor Project in White Center. The stated mission for this project is: Creating a multicultural bicycling community where teenagers have equal opportunity to spend time outdoors and on a bicycle. The YES Foundation is thrilled to be its host here in the neighborhood! About 12 - 13 kids participated in the weekly rides in late spring. The club continues to meet during the summer. You can’t imagine how exciting it is for us to watch the kids ride out of the church parking lot every Monday afternoon. Excited for the new ways that they are encountering their own neighborhood. Excited for the sense of independence they seem to be gaining every week. Excited for the ways they are paying attention to their own health issues. Excited for the feeling they have about becoming a different kind of steward of their environment. Really excited about the relationships they are forming with Dan, Danielle and Ed, the people who are leading their weekly rides. Pretty much just flat excited.

Pat Thompson