Wheelhouse Community Bike Shop is gearing up for the Wheelhouse/Trips for Kids Mid-Columbia Fall Adventure club ride series to start on Bike Your Park Day, Saturday, September 24, when we bike from the Port of Pasco to Sacajawea State Park during the Heritage Festival. Registration will open this week, and they are seeking adult volunteers. Here is some information from Wheelhouse Community Bike Shop:

 Why We Need Volunteers

Trips for Kids Mid-Columbia is the youth program of Wheelhouse Community Bike Shop. Wheelhouse is a 100% volunteer-run non-profit that uses bicycles to improve peoples' lives. The cost of participation is $20/year for K-12 children. The program is not self-sustaining financially and depends on grants, donations, and volunteers to operate. Our capacity for registrations is a function of the number of adults we have riding with us. We are required to maintain a maximum ratio of six kids per adult. 

 Fall Ride Series Details

Our fall ride series will take place on Saturday afternoons from September 24 through October 29. Depending on weather and interest, we may extend the rides until Thanksgiving, as the trails really shape up the more rain they get. We ride 5-8 miles on asphalt or 3-5 miles on dirt trails and rides are mostly flat. We spent 2 hours together, going over ABC Quick Checks, trail etiquette, riding, enjoying the outdoors, and eating Clif bars. 

 

Current ride plans:

1. 9/24 Bike Your Park Day: Port of Pasco to Sacajawea State Park. Enjoy the Heritage Festival for a while before returning to the Port of Pasco. (asphalt, 5 miles)
2. 10/1 Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day: Chamna (dirt, 3-5 miles)
3. 10/8 Leslie Groves Tennis Courts to Submarine and back via PNNL campus or directly back for slower groups (asphalt, 7.5 miles)
4. 10/15 Eastern end of Wade Park to Chiawana Park playground, play for a while and then back (asphalt, 7.5 miles)
5. 10/22 Chamna (dirt, 3-5 miles)
6. 10/29 Chamna (dirt, 3-5 miles)

 

Ride Volunteer Expectations

• As a ride volunteer, you will follow a predefined route with a small pod of up to 6 kids who are all comfortable riding at the same speed. 
• You will typically ride in front on a trail ride or at the back on an asphalt ride and provide route directions and reminders of trail etiquette as needed. 
• If there are any issues you do not feel capable of dealing with yourself (e.g. flat tire, loose water bottle cage, first aid need) you will be able to contact me and I will provide support. 
• Ride volunteers need to provide a schedule of which rides they can attend and 1 weeks' notice if plans change to give me enough time to find a replacement.
• Ride volunteers need a mechanically sound bike, a helmet, and will carry a basic mobile tool kit that I can provide if needed.
• Ride volunteers need to be members of Wheelhouse Community Bike Shop, but if the cost of membership is a barrier, your membership will be comped for the ride season to enable your participation as a volunteer.

For more information, or to volunteer for this Fall, please email: francesca.maier@gmail.com or text at 443-208-8386.