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Aaaaand...We're off!




It felt pretty natural to get back into the rhythm of riding bikes with kids again last week. I was nervous though; Barb Mills, my PE partner, is still out of school while recuperating from surgery. I have come to understand that one of the most crucial aspects of running Riding For Focus successfully is building a solid team to help out. When I found out that Barb would be out in the fall, I reached out to some other teachers and community members. Amazingly, I have two parents who are expert riders joining me each morning session, and a fellow teacher/rider/friend joining me for the afternoon session. In all, we have 42 students riding this fall, three days a week. 

 Year two of teaching the riding curriculum is going smoother than year one did. I have a better sense of what to expect, and how much I can realistically cover during each session. I'm also the guy who works on all the bikes, so knowing them well makes it easier to do small tweaks while out in the field.

 The kids are absolutely thrilled to get to ride bikes at school. Due to some scheduling changes, we are riding Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays each week as opposed to the four days per week we did in year one. Since I'm running all the logistics of RFF solo, this slightly reduced schedule makes it all more sustainable. I also have a core group of riders from last year who begged me to have them ride again. They are helping us teach the lessons and are doing a great job. Peer mentorship is a powerful model, and my crew from last year are excellent ambassadors. 

 I'm hoping the weather holds out for us to keep charging through the road readiness lessons. I want to get these kids out on some extended excursions before the snow flies.

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