Bike Parts Diagram

Great tool when teaching the parts and vocabulary of a bicycle!

When your handlebars are twisted... Bar end plugs could save your life!

Just a day or so ago I heard a participant say, "Andy is a stickler for noticing missing bar end plugs." Well, when you have seen accidents such as these its easy to understand why!
Its crazy to think that something so simple could help prevent major injury if you were ever in an accident. So, next time you hear, "Bar end plugs-- WHY?". Respond with this, "they could save your life!"

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