Jun. 7—Oliver Metzgar is excited, and for good reason. A couple weeks ago, he got a brand new bike.

“It’s an intermediary bike,” said the smiling first grade student at East San José Elementary School who had outgrown his old, beginner’s bike.

His father, Derek, a physical education teacher at the school, took him to get the two-wheeler several weeks ago, and Oliver said he plans on riding it all summer long.

But this wasn’t the only new bicycle Oliver recently received. On Thursday, he and roughly a dozen of his classmates joined officials with CYCLE Kids for a special event. Each student, wearing their new orange CYCLE Kids T-shirt, stood against the gym’s east wall.

In front of them were 10 new bikes, their parts laid out on the floor. The kids, along with help from community volunteers, would be building the bikes piece by piece, to kick off the CYCLE Kids program at their school.

Oliver, along with fourth grader Dougy Davis, were paired together for the project, with the help of volunteer Cole Goldman.

“I helped build the front tires,” Dougy told the Journal. The trio finished the task in just under an hour, an impressive feat that showed why teamwork is so vital to the CYCLE Kids program, said Julie Idlet, the group’s founder and executive director.

“It’s really important for children to learn how to work together, and building bikes is a way for them to make new friends and create a sense of community,” Idlet said.

Idlet founded CYCLE Kids 20 years ago while working and living in Massachusetts. She was one of the coaches for the Harvard cycling team and noticed that the athletes weren’t consuming a healthy diet.

In response, she founded CYCLE Kids as a way to help combat childhood obesity. The organization grew and expanded into 14 states and shifted its mission to working with schools to ensure children have basic access to a physically and emotionally healthy life through biking and nutrition education. In particular, CYCLE Kids partners with the physical education programs in schools and provides them with bikes and a curriculum centered around bike riding, bike safety and nutrition education.

With two grants — $25,000 from the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative and $75,000 from the 2023 New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund — CYCLE Kids was able to expand its program into three elementary schools in Albuquerque. Inez Science and Technology Magnet School, Los Padillas Elementary and East San José Elementary will integrate CYCLE Kids’ biking riding and nutrition curriculum into their physical education classes next school year.

Each school also received 10 new bicycles as a part of joining CYCLE Kids. Each school took part in a bike-building event, just like the one at East San José Elementary on Thursday. These bikes will be the ones used during the CYCLE Kids lessons and are the property of the schools.

“It’s a unique opportunity,” said Glen Copeland, one of the physical education teachers at East San José. “Not many schools have bikes as a part of their regular equipment, and to be able to give the kids an opportunity to get one and learn how to ride safely is important.”

Fellow PE teacher Kristin Paulson said they are planning on using the bikes during a broader outdoor lesson plan that will also involve rock climbing and other outdoor activities.

While the bikes will be officially used during class next year, that didn’t stop some students from hopping on their new wheels after they finished building them and riding around the gym. The students smiled and laughed as they chased each other around.

Standing off to the side was Ashley Wedelich, CYCLE Kids southwest program director. A professional cyclist , Wedelich was grinning ear to ear as she watched them ride.

“I feel very blessed,” she said. “I believe that cycling is empowering, and to help these children grow on their bikes is exciting.”