2012 PEAC Fall Newsletter

Programs to Educate All Cyclists
Fall 2013 Newsletter

20th Annual Celebration of Cycling a Success for all Cyclists
    In its inception, the Celebration of Cycling was the only fully inclusive ride in Michigan. 21 years later, we still believe that Everyone Can Ride; with routes ranging from 6 to 100 miles, cyclists of all abilities can participate in this great event! The ride begins and ends at the Warrendale Picnic Area in Hines Park and the first 6 miles are traffic-free. This event raises funds and awareness for Programs to Educate All Cyclists, a non-profit organization that empowers individuals with disabilities through cycling. 
    This year, we were proud to see so many students achieving their summer program goals. Each summer, we ask our students to come up with a goal for the Celebration of Cycling. At this event over 75 summer program students and their families were able to ride together and with cyclists from the community.
    Without the support of our sponsors and the gracious donations from all of you, this would not be possible. Thank you for your continued support of our programs. 
     Please join us next year on September 14th, 2013 for the 21st Annual Celebration of Cycling! If you have any questions, please email Liz at liz@bikeprogram.org

Summer Program at PEAC

     This summer, Brian G. and his dad came to PEAC to try their hand at riding a two-wheel bike. At Brian's evaluation, his favorite bike was the blue Terrier tricycle. He pedaled it around the parking lot for 20 minutes. The thought of riding a two wheel bike was scary! Slowly, but surely, Brian braved a tandem and then tried out a two-wheel mountain bicycle without pedals. As the summer went on, Brian became more and more determined to pedal the two-wheeled bicycle on his own. With only two days remaining in summer program for Brian, upon arrival, he bolted out of the car, picked up the blue two-wheeled bike that he had been walking, scooting and gliding all summer, pushed off and started

pedaling. The staff didn't even realize the huge accomplishment Brian had just made until I heard screams of "Brian, YOU ARE DOING IT! You are riding a two-wheeled bike!" Brian took a lap around the parking lot and then coasted to a stop by his dad, squealing in delight.

 He pushed off again, put his feet on the pedals, yelling

around the parking lot "I CAN DO IT! I CAN RIDE A BIKE. A TWO-WHEELED

BIKE."

If you would like more information on the Summer Program, please email Steve at steve@bikeprogram.org

Active Transportation has begun! 

Active Transportation Program wrapped up its fall bike program. For 5 weeks, 120 students have been diligently working towards their personal cycling goals. Megan, a student at Visions Unlimited in Farmington Hills started working with PEAC last spring, and participated in our summer program. Every week, Megan, her dad, and PEAC staff have been pushing towards her goal to independently pedal a tricycle. Last week, Megan started pedaling on her own. That same week, Shaila, a student at Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte took her first community ride on a 2 wheeled bike and Brian balanced a 2 wheeled bike for the first time. The students are already looking forward to biking again this spring! 

The Active Transportation Initiative is one of PEAC’s newest projects. Beginning in the spring of 2011, this ground-breaking program empowers individuals with disabilities to become more independent through pedestrian, cycling, and public transportation education and training. We are currently working with Wyandotte, Farmington, and Warren Public Starting next week, students will begin fixed route transit training. Upcoming destinations for our bus trips include Somerset Mall, the Henry Ford Museum, and downtown Farmington Hills. Hope to see you on one of our outings! For questions about the project, contact Laura at laura@bikeprogram.org.

PEAC EVENTS: 

Private Lessons

Recently, PEAC has revamped its private lesson program. During the fall, we have been able to work with 15 students on individual cycling skills. Our waitlist has already started for the spring, so sign up today! If you are interested in signing up or more information, please email Liz at liz@bikeprogram.org. 

2nd Annual PEAC Ryde-A-Thon

PEAC will once again partner with the RydeOn! spinning studio is Saline to raise funds for the Summer Program. Please join us on Saturday, February 9th for a day of teamwork, fun and spinning! Please email Liz at liz@bikeprogram.org for more information. 

Please visit our website:  bikeprogram.org

Celebration of Cycling kicks off Detroit Bike Week!

The 20th annual Celebration of Cycling is happening on Saturday, September 8th, 2012. 

This event is an opportunity for PEAC to showcase its summer program students, as well as providing an opportunity for everyone to ride. Our first 12 miles are completely traffic free, for the more casual cyclist. After that, our loops range from 24 miles, 35 miles, 50 miles, 70 miles and 100 miles. 

This year, our event was given the privilege of kicking off the Detroit Bicycling Fest,  an entire week of cycling events all over the city!  

Here is the schedule for the week of September 8th until Septmeber 15: 

Saturday, September 8: 

Beat the Train
Brewery History Tour
20th Annual Celebration of Cycling ride
NSO Handlebars for the Homeless

Sunday, September 9:
Tour de Ford
Prohibition Bike Tour

Monday, September 10:
Bikes and Murder Ride

Tuesday, September 11:
11am City Memorial Service at Campus Martius

Wednesday, September 12:
The full Grand Blvd ride, 1730 start at Rivard Plaza.

Thursday, September 13:
Open

Friday, September 14:
DIA/Detroit Film Theatre Movie Event 9:30pm at the DIA

Saturday, September 15:
Tour de Troit!!
Beat the Train

We hope to see you on Saturday, September 8th to warm-up your legs before the 25 mile ride around the city of Detroit! 

To register for the Celebration of Cycling, please go to: http://celebrationofcycling.eventbrite.com/

9 days until the Celebration of Cycling!

There are only 9 days left to register for PEAC's 20th Annual Celebration of Cycling Ride that empowers cyclists with disabilities! 

With your help, we can work with students like Ben and give them the opportunity to ride! 

Ben, age 11, is a summer program veteran. This year ma

rked his seventh year of participation in our programming! Here is a note from him about his experience:

Since I was 4 years old, I started cycling with PEAC. This is my seventh year and it has made big difference in my life. The program has taught me to be ride a two wheel bike. I was part of the summer program and ride in the family rides at Willow Metro Park. I’ve rode over 1,000 miles! Everyone at PEAC helps me ride safely, independently, and they are all about having fun. Isn’t that what riding your bike is all about? Even though it took me time to find my balance to ride by myself, now I can ride on my own or on a tandem!

Registration for our ride begins at 7am and the Start/Finish line is at the Warrendale Picnic Area on Hines Drive. 

Please register online at http://celebrationofcycling.eventbrite.com/. 

If you can't come to the Celebration of Cycling, please consider sponsoring a cyclist at bikeprogram.org
See you on September 8th! 

With the end of PEAC's summer program and the coolness of weather approaching, that can only mean one thing. Fall is coming! The coming of Fall brings cheering on of your favorite college football teams, visits to the cider mill and of course PEAC's Celebration of Cycling. 

The Celebration of Cycling is entering its 20th year as being the premier fundraiser for Programs to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC) as we empower the lives of individuals through cycling in order to enrich lives by increasing community access, fostering social improvement and promoting healthy lifestyles. 

With the money raised by the Celebration of Cycling, students all over southeastern Michigan have the opportunity to ride. This event helps keep the cost to only $35 per student for 7 weeks of individualized summer program instruction. This year, PEAC has had the opportunity to work with more than 150 students to help them reach their cycling goals and PEAC has worked with more than 700 students this summer through auxiliary programs in local communities. 

This summer has been filled with successes! Here are just a few to help you envision a day in the life of our summer program. 

Eden E, age 8, is diagnosed with cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair as her main mode of transportation. On the day of her initial evaluation, her mom brought her adaptive trike to site and said that Eden would be using this as her bike and she would like her to learn some community safety skills to help her navigate the sidewalks of their neighborhood. Eden's adaptive trike has a back support with a waist belt to help keep her upright as well as foot plates and straps to keep her feet on the pedals. After seeing that Eden was pretty skilled at the nuances of her own tricycle by being able to steer around our parking lot track, we decided that Eden would be able to ride on the back of a tandem. Eden was surprised and excited that she would be able to ride another bike besides the one that she brought from home and her mom was a little frightened at the idea of Eden on a bicycle without as much support as her adaptive trike provided; however, both Eden and her mom allowed us to expand Eden's bike repertoire. After a few laps around the parking lot, it was clear that Eden had found a new love in the tandem bicycle and instead of just learning about community skills from her tricycle, Eden was able to experience the surrounding community on the back of a tandem bike. 

Brian G., age 9, came to us after working with Lose the Training Wheels last summer. Unfortunately, Brian just couldn't figure out two-wheel skills after working with them. So, Brian and his dad decided to take the summer off from bicycling and to try again. This summer, they came to PEAC to try their hand at the two-wheel again. At Brian's evaluation, he wouldn't even look at the two-wheeled bicycle; instead he found a little blue tricycle and pedaled it around the parking lot for the whole 20 minutes. Slowly, but surely, we weened Brian off of the tricycle and onto the tandem and a two-wheeled bicycle without pedals. Eventually, Brian came to realize the freedom and the speed that he could experience while riding a two-wheeled bike and he became more and more determined to pedal the two-wheeled bicycle on his own. With only two days remaining in summer program for Brian, upon arrival, he bolted out of the car, picked up the blue two-wheeled bike that he had been walking, scooting and gliding all summer; pushed off and started pedaling. The staff didn't even realize the huge accomplishment until I heard screams of "Brian, YOU ARE DOING IT! You are riding a two-wheeled bike!" Brian took a lap around the parking lot and then coasted to a stop by his dad, squealing in delight. He pushed off again, put his feet on the pedals, yelling around the parking lot "I CAN DO IT! I CAN RIDE A BIKE. A TWO-WHEELED BIKE." 

These and many more students have reached success through our program this summer. We hope that you will come out and ride with us on September 8th to Celebrate our students and to continue to reach out to cyclists with disabilities. To register for the event, please go to this website http://bikeprogram.org/celebration-of-cycling-registration/. If you are unable to attend this event,  please consider sponsoring a cyclist with a disability, for only $20 you are giving that participant a chance to ride. 

Welcome to PEAC's blog!

Welcome to PEAC's blog!

Programs to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC) is a non-profit organization that empowers individuals through cycling. We do this by enriching lives by increasing community access, fostering social involvement and promoting healthy lifestyles.

This is going to be a place where we share pictures and stories of our students, tell you about our events and update you on all the programs we have going on. Please fell free to share your own personal stories so that we can let others know that Everyone Can Ride.