CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – At Southwest District Park, Chris Bahr’s work is a metaphor for what he wants to accomplish. As he cleared the trail with a leaf blower, his goal is giving more people access to mountain biking.
“One of our main goals is really to change the face of mountain biking,” said Bahr, the founder and executive director of Cycle 4 Success.
The new faces include kids in the Greater Enrichment afterschool program.
“Hello, how are you all?” Bahr says, greeting the bus that arrives outside Southview Rec Center on Monday afternoons during the six-month program.
“It became a recognition that the sport that I love — mountain biking — really had a lack of diversity,” he said, explaining why he started the nonprofit three years ago.
“Our intent in the program is really to extend this goal of access to underserved communities,” Bahr says.
“Anybody else need any gear?” he asked the children.
Cycle 4 Success has bikes and all the necessary equipment to take kids ages 10-14 for a spin.
“We have on gloves so we can have grip and then we have helmets just in case you fall off,” Emory Gilmore shows us. “And then we have glasses so stuff won’t get in our eyes.”
“I’m very social; I’m all over the internet,” says Lorraine Galloway.
The screen time can wait because she’s excited about getting outside for a while.
“I think it’s really fun because we get to ride bikes,” she says.
Coach Shawn Gentry is among the volunteers on hand to guide them through the program.
“Remember to bend your knees, Lorraine,” said Gentry.
“This is way more controlled than being out here in front of the handlebars,” he says, positioning her hands on the handlebars.
Lorraine is hungry to learn, and she doesn’t quit.
“Never give up, and you can put your mind to whatever you feel like you can do,” she told Queen City News.
After nailing down the basics, the riders switch gears to a bigger challenge.
“We get to be in the woods, and we get to have fun with our friends while we are riding,” Gilmore said.
They ride the 1.2-mile trail near the Southview Rec building. The boys and girls are certainly not far from home, but taking on this terrain feels like an adventure.
“For our first time, we got to ride on mountain bikes, and we got to go on the trail,” Gilmore said.
“They have exceptional support to help us,” says Ja’Sani Thomas. “Plus, you get to go out and bike in the mountains. It’s one of the best experiences in life.”
“It’s something that has really blossomed over time,” Bahr has discovered. “It goes from a very tentative ‘What are we getting ready to do?’ to now where we are, a true embracing and love of a sport and it just makes all of us feel excited.”
He stresses the four Fs: freedom, focus, fitness, and fun.
But our GoPro camera also captured a fifth “F” bound to happen to everyone: a fall. Heads up! No kids were injured while shooting this story.
Learning to pick themselves up and keep pedaling is a lesson in itself.
Along with their regular biking trail, Cycle 4 Success also travels with the participants for races in Rock Hill, SC.
After their final practice together, there’s one more stop they don’t want to miss.
“Hey, y’all, how are you doing?” Bahr said on graduation day. “Our superstars that are up front at the VIP table.”
“What an awesome culmination of everything we’ve been working on for the last six months,” he said, addressing a crowd including family members and sponsors.
On this momentous day, Bahr encouraged them to repeat the cycle that got them this far.
“Each one of you, to continue your journey, are going to get all these items,” he says, pulling stuff out of a graduation goodie bag. “We’ve got our helmet; we’ve got our glasses.”
They climbed the mountain and reaped the rewards.
“Today, in graduation is the opportunity to get the bikes that they worked so hard for,” said Bahr.
That’s right, the grads earned their own upcycled mountain bike through a partnership with Trips for Kids Charlotte and The Re-Cyclery.
There was high praise to go with the prize package.
“He’s always got your back; he’s always looking out, you know?” Bahr said about Kaleb Payne at the graduation ceremony, before celebrating Kaleb’s twin brother Kamden.
Both improved so much.
“And you dropped four minutes!” Bahr said, referring to Kamden’s race time.
“Come on up, Ja’Sani!” he said, calling up another graduate at the event.
“You were very focused weren’t you?” says Bahr, getting a shy head nod from Ja’Sani.
“You learned what it required to be a good mountain biker,” Bahr tells him.
And then there’s the irrepressible Lorraine Galloway.
“A cycling natural,” Bahr says.
“She dropped six and a half minutes off of her race time,” he told the crowd.
“What?” she replied in shock.
“It’s really a good experience, plus you get to get out of the house and come out and spend some time outside,” Galloway says.
Lorraine’s mom says Cycle 4 Success is literally a breath of fresh air.
“It’s life-changing,” said Diondra Pittman. “A lot of kids don’t really ride bikes because they’re so caught up in gaming, their TV, the phones.”
“Whether they become lifelong mountain bikers or not, the idea is to impart a little bit of love for cycling,” Bahr says.
“I feel like this is a good opportunity for me,” Lorraine said. “Not only for me, but for other children.”
Queen City News
Faces of the Carolinas
