Donated bikes fuel expansion of Iowa City youth racing club

IOWA CITY - Victor Kariuki, 14, had been with the Youth Off-Road Riders bike club only a few months when he experienced his first crash during a race earlier this year.

A month later he and his teammates joked as they prepared for a weekly ride about how the crash occurred, whether he wasn't paying attention, slipped or missed a turn. Kariuki shrugs it off as a good story to tell and a lesson learned; he finished the race and stuck with the club.

'Everybody crashes,” Kariuki said. 'You just have to get back up and keep racing.”

Kariuki and his teammates Devon Skyles, 15; Awelu Abdalla, 15; Heleem Adams, 14; and Alec Nelson, 15, participated in the Old Pi to New Pi Bike Ride, which is part of Iowa City's Bike Month activities.

His goal is chasing down some of his faster teammates, who encouraged him to join, he said.

The club is part of the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County and run out of the Pheasant Ridge location, which serves a lower-income section of Iowa City with a concentration of immigrant families primarily from the Sudan and Jordan.

The program has gained support from the community, including from New Pioneer Co-op and Goosetown Racing Club. Geoff's Bike and Ski in Iowa City has helped maintain the club members' bikes and last month outfitted the team with $1,700 Specialized Crux racing bikes, which can be modified for different styles of riding.

The new bikes allow the club to double competitions from roughly 10 to 20 races, largely because they now can participate in road and cyclocross races, in addition to mountain biking. The team trains year-round and races in competitions around Iowa. Its next race is June 3 at Beverly Park in Cedar Rapids.

'This program is something people in the cycling community have always been passionate about,” said Geoff Perrill, owner of the bike shop, 816 S. Gilbert St.

Tony Branch, youth program director, started the Youth Off-Road Riders five years ago, spurred by interest from kids. Branch is a competitive and commuter cyclist, who'd leave work in his flashy, spandex-clad

racing kit.

Not only was Branch excited to get kids involved in a sport he was passionate about, but he saw it as an opportunity to establish healthy habits, build the foundation for a lifelong leisure skill and instill lessons that can be applied to life outside sports, such as perseverance, goal setting, work ethic, leadership and resilience, he said.

'It's not an easy sport,” he said. 'And, it's an opportunity for people from a lower-income neighborhood to integrate and understand the larger community - break out of their bubble - and also feel the support from their community.

Anas El Tuhami, 21, was one of the early participants when the club started, and has come back as an adult to volunteer in his spare time.

'That's what got me into cycling,” El Tuhami said.

Those interested - junior and senior high school boys and girls to participate or adults to volunteer - can contact Branch by calling (319) 354-2886 or by email at yorr@ncjc.org.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com