Hi, I do several sprint and Olympic triathlons per year, as an age group finisher, aside from recreational cycling and commuting. I can say that if you do get children interested in the sport, I wouldn't worry about the type of bicycle they'll be riding (yet). At that level as novice competitors, a mountain bike or maybe a youth-sized steel road bike is more than adequate. I'd be more concerned it fights right and is mechanically sound.
I've got some other questions about the USAT's youth programming ideas:
What age group are you trying to work with?
How many triathlons might the students do per year, as the triathlon
season is sort of opposite the school year?
- Are you targeting a specific population to broaden appeal of the
sport (urban and racially diverse?)
- How willing is USAT to work within individual bike coops' missions?
Some co-ops already have youth Earn-A-Bike programs in place and can function limitedly as charities.
Best, Leslie Peteya Durham Bike Co-op
On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 11:16 PM, james bledsoe jamesbleds0e@yahoo.comwrote:
hi, where are you? there might be a "bike kitchen" around the corner from you many times open shops will support direct involvement with hands on projects.
--- On *Thu, 10/7/10, Jonathan Morrison jonathan.morrison@gmail.com*wrote:
From: Jonathan Morrison jonathan.morrison@gmail.com Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Question To: "The Think Tank" thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Date: Thursday, October 7, 2010, 9:23 PM
I might suggest looking into the safe routes to school program for education funding, tri would have to be secondary, but you could work it in there and have money to buy educational bike fleets.
In my experience used bikes suitable for tri in kids sizes are not common, if not rare. So at least in SLC, we couldn't supply bikes even if we wanted to.
-jonathan morrison
On Thursday, October 7, 2010, Tara <windshifts@gmail.comhttp://mc/compose?to=windshifts@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I work at a National Governing Body, USA Triathlon, and I am working on
youth programming. As of right now the program is an awareness program. The thought is to bring a coach into schools to introduce triathlon to the kids.
A next step, down the road, would be to bring a multisport curriculum
into the Physical Education programs. One major hurdle to this would be equipment.
Now my question to the listserv- would bike co-ops be interested in being
involved in such a program by way of donating bicycles and hosting a cycling safety educational component?
I'd appreciate any thoughts on the subject. Thanks! Tara McCarthy
-- Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org
The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households. _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.orghttp://mc/compose?to=Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.orghttp://mc/compose?to=TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
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