Americana Infusion: The Neighborhood Bike Race

     I tried an experiment over the summer that is worth sharing with my fellow parents and community volunteers. It's a story of what can happen if you fail at something, and how action for others can bring you out of your slump.  Some background first: I ran for the position of President for a local, non-profit civic organization-- a local community association. My platform was bringing more youth events to our city to raise money for Science & Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) scholarships. I rarely ever see free to low-cost youth events, so I thought that I should focus my energy in that direction for the campaign. This was my first time at running for a position that required me to get votes.

     During the campaign's election window, I walked around my neighborhood and made my pitch to neighbors. One neighbor, Robert Hofheimer, took the time to ask me about my platform and what I hoped to accomplish. I mentioned a youth chess tournament, a youth art exhibit, et cettra, but when I mentioned a youth bike race, his eyes lit up. I recall him saying, "That's exactly what we need!" Then he asked me if he could help organize the bike race. I was totally taken back, and, of course, agreed. Of the 100 or so folks that I shook hands with in my campaign effort, Robert was the second person to ask me about my platform, and the only person to volunteer to help with one of the events I was hoping to bring to fruition.

     A day or two later I find out that I lost the election approximately 140 to 40 in total votes cast. I was down in the dumps for not organizing and starting the campaign earlier, not building a team, and not listening to my wife on where to target potential voters. Later that day I was walking my dog and bumped into Robert again. He was also walking his dog. He asked me how the race went, I told him I was slaughtered. Without thinking I said, "hey, let's move forward and put that race on." He smiled and shook his head, and we parted with a handshake. Little did I know that I would be getting a shot of Americana because of this event. 

     I think two or three emails flew. We agreed to posting a flyer at the park, and to start passing the word to other neighborhood parents. Within four days we planned and executed an informal neighborhood youth bike race for 9th graders and below. It was a huge success by any means. Parents came out despite the summer's temperature and high humidity. Soon my chips and iced drinks where augmented with Robert's popsicles and water bottles. Robert's daughter made cardboard medals, which were the perfect touch for the kids. By the time we were ready to race, the Moms also brought out a folding table and additional goodies like brownies for the kids once they finished. There must have been 40 or 50 kids that came out to race! The ages ranged from preschool to late junior high.

     This is how we did it in the event you want to try: We communicated via email to neighborhood parents, and we asked them to bring their kids 15-minutes before the race. We chose 4:00 PM for the start time so that we had some shade. We also went to specific homes for a personal invite, and put up two hand-made posters in our neighborhood. When the kids arrived, Robert got to work utilizing the older kids as volunteers as he took names and ages while assigning race numbers. I worked to get parents organized, and positioned them at the traffic intersections. The whole affair was run sort of like an audible in football: fast, loose, but with an purpose. I am sure that we could have planned this to death-- thank God we didn't. Maybe next year we'll think it out a little more to reduce risk on our end. God knows how bad things could have got if someone was hurt. For this event, however, we just executed without too much thought, and everything worked out.

     Once parents got to their respective intersection, they were able to warn traffic, hold-back traffic if need be, and ready to pull any kids to the side of the road if they crashed. The route was a 1-km loop around our neighborhood. Nothing fancy or exotic-- just a big loop.

     When the race was about to start, we saw that the little kids were mixed-in with the big kids at the starting line. Another Dad stepped in and said, "okay, let's get the older kids up front, and the younger kids in the back." It took less than 5 minutes to rearrange the kids into three or four age groups. Then we did a staged start, and released the groups in succession.

     The race, itself, was very fast. The older kids afterwards wanted more of a track, so for fun they went around one more time afterwards. No doubt the winner was saying, "this doesn't count- I already won." The younger kids had a blast, and the really young kids probably wished the course was half the distance. Maybe next year we'll add a wheelie competition, a ramp, and change the length of the course for those first grade and below, and for those 6th grade and above.

     The last person to cross the finish line was a preschool'er, and everyone clapped that tiny little girl in. You know what? She didn't quit despite the increasing grade of the road towards the finish line, and she completed the entire course. For me, that was truly marvelous to witness. I could see her determination and she crinkled her nose and squinted her eyes while pumping her little feat. Afterwards we handed out those cardboard medals that Robert's little girl made, and we took more pictures.

     I was truly amazed at the outcome, and so was Robert. We both knew that with so many kids, we were lucky no one got hurt. All in all, the kids enjoyed their time, and the whole event was done in an hour, and that included the socialization afterwards. Total prep time was far less than expected-- maybe two hours tops.

     Parents that didn't see each other in a while were smiling and talking, and I was proud to see my kids laughing, joking, and getting to know the other kids in the neighborhood better. Robert and I talked and we agreed that this was now an annual event for our neighborhood. Our neighborhood already has a Halloween parade for kids every year, so the a 4th of July bike race would be our second event.

     I walked away from this experience with several thoughts and feelings. One, I was proud the kids were having a good time, and that my neighbors were out sharing popsicles and smiles. Two, I now know this idea has legs, and that my campaign platform was on the mark (despite my execution being off). Three, this kind of event could easily be done annually in any neighborhood. And four, I had made a new friend in Robert. 

     The bruised ego I had felt just hours before was melted away by the sunshine of community spirit, and the joy of seeing the kids talk and laugh. Americana is alive and well, and I was so proud to see it first hand. Having this experience behind me, I say bring on the chess tourney, and long-live the neighborhood youth bike race.

-GLT