In the latest ‘the kids are alright’ news, a group of Williamsburg teenagers will be biking to the 2025 Youth Bike Summit in Boston — and they want our support.
Members of the El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice Bike Club will be riding over 250 miles across Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts (primarily along the East Coast Greenway) for a week from May 26 to June 1, ending in Boston for the summit.
The club began in 2012 as an offshoot of the city Department of Transportation’s Bike to School initiative with a fleet of six bikes donated by Will Wood, owner of the now-closed NYCBikes/Spokes and Strings that was previously on Havemeyer Street.
“There was little adult bike riding among Latino communities of color,” Bike Club founder and director Joe Matunis admitted about the club’s inception and growth — most members are also students at El Puente. “I wanted students to not only learn about bikes — how they work, how to ride them safely — but also to experience the joy and freedom that comes from exploring the city on two wheels.”
The early days of the club, especially, included working with Transportation Alternatives and the DOT to teach bike safety, as well as map out where students lived to understand access to bike infrastructure. Ultimately, the work also revealed a lot about transportation equity and accessible bike lanes, particularly how many are missing in Black and Latino communities like Bushwick, East New York, and Bed-Stuy. Now, roughly 15 riders show up weekly to ride throughout NYC (the club meets on Wednesdays and weekends, which are typically the longer training rides). When I met with the Bike Club last Wednesday, they were on their way to Brooklyn Heights Park to play volleyball.
Emily, who joined the group for the first time last September, initially didn’t know how to ride a bike.
“I crashed a few times, but it’s part of the process,” she said.
Luckily, the work Bike Club does not only builds hands-on, logistical bike skills (Matunis notes that all of the kids have become “pretty good mechanics”), but also confidence.
“Every week we get a little more fit so we can go a little further,” Matunis said.
Their longest ride so far in preparation for the summit has been about 40 miles, and members cited trips to Roosevelt Island, Little Island, and Inwood Park as a few of their favorites. Misael, who Matunis notes puts in “the most effort” in the club and takes nearly every opportunity to ride, comes all the way from Queens.
“The real strategy is waking up at 3:30 a.m.,” Misael laughed.
Last year, the club biked two days to the summit in Allentown, PA, which was a big success.
“They got the confidence from the very first day,” Matunis recalled.
On this trip to Boston, they’ll be experiencing what Matunis describes as “expeditionary learning,” since they’ll be missing a few days of school. Throughout the trip, they’ll be camping for three days (with the bulk of the riding — about 50 miles daily — happening early in the day) and connecting with local riders and educators to learn more about landscapes, nature, and biking as a tool for freedom and environmental justice.
Raymond, one of their most experienced riders, who rides three to four times a week and will be attending the summit, admitted he was feeling “50/50” about the ride, though they still have a few weeks to go.
And during those few weeks, they’re looking to raise money to support the ride and cover gear, transportation, food, and logistics. The club has regularly hosted fundraising opportunities, as well as done tabling for Patagonia at events in exchange for donated clothing for the trip. As of last week, they were about halfway to their goal of roughly $1,200 per rider.
Support the Bike Club’s journey by donating here.
This past weekend, they fundraised at the 5 Boro Bike Tour on Sunday by volunteering at a tire-pumping station.