Back in the Saddle, Again

The winter weather has held on for a long time this year, and actually continues to hang on. Last night's low was 39˚ and we rode this morning in fog at a temperature of 41˚. Despite the cool conditions, our RFF kids are fired up to ride, each and every day.

And it's not just the kids who are fired up. Barb and I both recognize that no matter our mood or energy level, once we climb onto our bikes, everything is better. Not to wax poetic, but it is magical.

The combination of pedaling in rhythm, leaning into curves and feeling the wind on your face changes your attitude. Thanks to the research of people like Dr. John Ratey, we know that exercise changes us for the better at the cellular level. I am excited to get six weeks of riding under our belts so we can look for any changes in student attitudes, attendance and performance. A number of teachers have already shared anecdotal evidence of RFF kids being happier to be at school, and even improving their grades and work ethic.

We have been venturing into the woods, traveling some roads and spending time sessioning the pump track. This spring we are riding with 6th and 7th graders in the morning, and 8th graders in the afternoon. We have thirty kids riding from BMS, five days a week.

There is a lot of demand for participation in Riding For Focus. BMS will be adopting a new schedule next fall, so the logistics of the program will need to be retooled for the 2018-19 school year. But whatever schedule we have, cycling continues to become a big part of who we are as a school, and what we do as a community.

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And so it begins!

The mornings have been cool and crisp as we kicked off Riding For Focus this week. Fall is in the air, and we have twenty-one rosy cheeked middle schoolers eagerly hauling their bikes "hand over hand" from the storage area to the bike corral each morning. They are motivated to get out riding as quickly as possible, so they manage to be focused and efficient, even at 7:00 am. So far we have been going through the curriculum lesson by lesson, checking off skills as we see them demonstrated. Fitting and checking your bike before riding, fitting your helmet properly, how to start, how to stop, how to shift gears, how to maintain a consistent pedaling cadence. It's brilliant to have kickstands on these bikes so we can create a mobile bike corral wherever we go. Getting kids in close, momentarily asking them to separate themselves from the distraction of those shiny new bicycles, and then releasing them back to their rides after instruction creates the space for clear deli

Putting it All Together

Today was one of those special days when so much seemed to come together. We are in the middle of week #5 of this spring's Riding For Focus session, and we have worked hard on learning about many aspects of cycling. But we have also pushed outside the set curriculum. We have: Ventured onto trails to learn mountain biking techniques Ridden with bike-commuters during Bike to Work Week Cleared trails Shaped and rock-picked the pumptrack Learned basic field repairs Become acquainted with the local trail system Made new friends Today I took my eighth graders out onto a section of the Whiskeag Trail known to the mountain bike community as "Gnarcore." It's an appropriate name for this steep jumble of roots, rocks and skinny bridges. I was sure to bring my Wilderness First Responder first aid kit, and I required kids to drop their seats to the frames. I also spotted them on tricky sections and even had them walk the bikes in the most high-consequence spo

Motivation

Riding bikes at school is so much fun that kids will go to great lengths to get to do it. We are into week #3 and attendance for Riding For Focus has been close to 100%. Anecdotal reports from teachers and parents are that kids are generally calmer, happier and more focused since they began riding. While these aren't scientific findings, they are still worth paying attention to. Over the weekend a friend shared an article with me about youth programs in Iceland. The country had terrible problems with alcohol abuse and disengagement among their teenagers in the late 1990's. Introducing consistent after-school activities over the last two decades that got kids moving, interacting with each other, having fun, exploring their interests and challenging themselves turned the culture around. Today, Iceland has cut their rate of teenage alcohol abuse by 75% and improved the emotional state of their kids as well. In a similar way, Riding For Focus has been a lifeline for some of o

R4F (Riding for Focus)

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