Mountain Bike Basics

Great reference for MTB basics and best ways for teaching!

http://www.bikebackcountry.com/about/skills_tips.php

Thanks Back Country Excursions for putting this together!!!

All Feelings will Pass

The July/August 2011 article in The Atlantic by Lori Gottlieb posed the question:” Could it be that by protecting our kids from unhappiness as children, we’re depriving them of happiness as adults? Gottlieb describes a possible scenario of a child falling in a playground: “…if you don’t let her experience [toddler tripping] momentary confusion, give her a chance to figure out what just happened (Oh, I tripped), and then briefly let her grapple with the frustration of having fallen and perhaps even try to pick herself up, she has no idea what discomfort feels like and will have no framework for how to recover when she feels discomfort later in life. …If, on the other hand, the child trips on the rock, and the parents let her try to reorient for a second before going over to comfort her, the child learns: That was scary for a second, but I’m okay now. If something unpleasant happens, I can get through it.”

Gottleib and other researchers she sites believe kids need “exposure to discomfort, failure, and struggle” in order to learn how to experience and deal with painful feelings. We have an expression at the CBC, all feelings will pass. We believe in our role as mentors for young people that we help them learn how to deal with uncomfortable feelings like the frustration that can come with the struggle of fixing a bike when one’s level of bike repair skills don’t yet meet the challenge, the pain in your legs as you bike up a steep hill, and conflictual situations with other people. We believe children are learning valuable life skills through understanding their primary feelings underlying feelings like anger, frustration, and upset. In turn they learn how to problem solve and resolve conflicts on their own as new challenges arise as part of life.

Bike Monkeys

Hello All!
Happy New Year! With every new year comes a new session of Bike Monkeys. For everyone interested or registered for Bike Monkeys please be sure to have a look at the course outlines in the document section of the Blog. Co-ed Bike Monkeys is set to start on February 8th and Girls Only on February 9th. There are still spots available for youth participants so if you or someone you know might be interested, please send them our way!!!

Thanks again for all of your support during 2011! Andy, Bronwyn, and I believe that without your support the CBC doesn't exist!

Relationship Building

As you all know, the CBC puts a lot of time into relationship building and getting to know the kids that walk through our doors. Remember when you are volunteering that it isn't necessarily just about the bike that you are building, but the relationship. Here are a few ways that might help you when your working with one of our participants:

1. Ask how their day was
2. What are some of the things they are proud about
3. What do they like to do outside of the CBC
4. What are some of the things they are good at
5. What do they like to do with their friends
6. What are some of their "favorites"

There are certainly hundreds of more questions that would fit, but the meaning behind them is almost always the same-- building a relationship that is meaningful to both the participant and volunteer.

Caring adults are an important part of a young persons life! We all have someone that we look to when we are proud of something, need advice, or need some encouragement. As a CBC volunteer you are one of those people that our participants look to and you should all be proud of that.

Blog in Review

Hi all,
Just wanted to remind you of a few older posts made to the blog over the last two years. That's right, I believe we are nearing the blogs two year anniversary! Thanks Dillon!

Anyway please feel free to revisit some of these older posts:

Riding in that?
Colder Weather Riding
Common Misses
Crash Stats
Ways we learn
Rules of the Road

Most of the links in these posts should be up to date, but if not, here is a very important link to the BCM rules of the road page... BCM

Life Space Interview

As many of you know the Community Bicycle Center is more than just fixing bikes. Its about problem solving, building communication skills and positive relationships, teamwork, and having fun. One of the ways that we incorporate many of these skills is through Life Space Interviews. Every now and then children experience a personal conflict or conflict with other kids that result in physical or emotionally unsafe behaviors. Sometimes that need help learning the skill necessary to resolve their conflicts and need a little adult guidance. Refer to the document below Seven Steps to the Life Space Interview. Ignore the references to restraining children which was an intervention used during Andy's tenure in a residential child treatment center two decades ago. Components of the I E.S.C.A.P.E. model have been helpful in teaching individual kids and groups of children how to listen to each other, express their individual needs, and determine ways to heal friendships and minimize the intensity of future conflicts.

In the Explore phase of the Life Space Interview process we focus on having each child involved in a conflict describe his/her view of the events preceding and during the conflict. Each child shares as if describing what a video would capture. They tend to want to share what they perceive the intention of the other child. Have them describe what actually happened from their perspective not intentions and motivations of others. The other children are tasked with listening to each other without commenting or making faces. Having another point of view is okay. Each child will get their turn to relay his/her view of the events. The facilitator must insure that each child can communicate his/her view without being challenged and does concern him/herself with seeking the truth. Usually the facilitator will restate what each child has said to confirm that the story was heard accurately and sometime this will be asked to be done by another child.

During the Alternatives phase we will use a desirability/probability assessment (also below) to help the kids determine the likelihood of following through with alternative behaviors in the future. First have the kids brainstorm options (alternative) ideas to prevent future conflicts that seem to keep reappearing with the same themes and outcomes. Usually we precede the brainstorming with figuring out what each child wants out of the situation like becoming friends again or having fun. The desirability assessment pertains to how attractive a particular option is to the child. The probability assessment pertains to the likelihood of the child following through with a particular option. We have found that both the desirability and probability must be rated at eight or higher for action to be realized. Sometime we ask what will it take to move a rating up one point. This assessment has been the key to determine what will actually result in follow-through.

Life space interview

View more documents from Community Bicycle Center.

Desirability probability

View more documents from Community Bicycle Center.

Dehydration Signs and Symptoms

As we head into the shouldering summer seasons we wanted to remind everyone that although it may be getting cooler outside, the importance of drinking water and keeping yourself hydrated is still extremely high. Here are a few signs and symptoms to look out for in yourself and the people around you when your riding:

Mild to moderate dehydration will likely cause:

• Dry, sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
• Thirst
• Decreased urine output — no wet diapers for three hours for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
• Few or no tears when crying
• Dry skin
• Headache
• Constipation
• Dizziness or lightheadedness

Severe dehydration may result in:

• Extreme thirst
• Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
• Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
• Lack of sweating
• Little or no urination — any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
• Sunken eyes
• Shriveled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and doesn't "bounce back" when pinched into a fold
• In infants, sunken fontanels — the soft spots on the top of a baby's head
• Low blood pressure
• Rapid heartbeat
• Rapid breathing
• No tears when crying
• Fever
• In the most serious cases, delirium or unconsciousness

(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dehydration/DS00561/DSECTION=symptoms)

The easiest way to treat dehydration is to never let yourself get to that point. Be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day--if your urine is clear chances are your keeping yourself hydrated.


Here are a few other websites where you can read up on more about the causes and treatment for dehydration.

http://www.medicinenet.com/dehydration/article.htm
http://www.symptomsofdehydration.com/
http://dehydration.net/2011/preventing-dehydration-in-young-athletes/ <----good information about young athletes