now enrolling participants and instructors for 2021!
Overview and Vision
The School of Dirt’s mission is to provide youth with essential skills for accessing, riding, and navigating urban trail systems by bicycle. The School seeks to serve the diverse communities of the Greater Boston Area, and a core mission of the School is to build ridership and leadership capacity among women and BIPOC. The School will begin offering courses during summer and fall of 2021.
The School will provide mixed-format instruction free of charge to youth between the ages of 14 and 20. The curriculum will include techniques for riding technical terrain as well as the navigation skills necessary for safe and enjoyable trail riding. The School also aspires to cultivate the leadership skills crucial for planning, organizing, and leading rides.
Partnerships
We are partnering with the Boston cycling community including Bikes Not Bombs (BNB), MIT Cycling, and Youth Enrichment Services to cultivate cycling leaders and recruit program participants.
Curriculum
The School of Dirt’s curriculum revolves around four skill sets that are essential for becoming a competent rider, route planner, and ride leader.
Riding
Safely traversing technical terrain - including roots, rocks, sand, and steep hills - demands a specific set of riding skills. Course instructors will help youth practice riding on challenging terrain in the controlled environment of Franklin Park.
Navigation
The ability to read different types of maps is crucial for finding bicycle-friendly pathways to destinations throughout the city, as well as navigating trail systems. Ultimately, the School seeks to empower youth with the ability to create their own maps using commonly-available navigational tools to find safer routes to common destinations or satisfy their desire for adventure.
Mechanics
Riding on rough terrain can wreak havoc on bicycles, so understanding what tools to bring and how to use them is critical for self-sufficiency. All School courses will include mechanical instruction for addressing a range of common issues encountered while riding through the forest such as fixing a flat, repairing a broken chain, and adjusting brakes & derailleurs.
Leadership
Every great bicycle ride must have a leader. Organizing the ride, providing route information, selecting the right equipment, and setting expectations for fellow riders are essential to a successful outing in the woods. In addition to helping youth become competent riders, navigators, and mechanics, the School also strives to cultivate leaders, not only on bikes but in their communities. As such, School instructors will model and reinforce key leadership skills including maintaining a positive outlook, risk assessment, problem solving, and consensus building.
Courses
Introductory Ride
Participants will be introduced to technical trail riding and navigational tools (via smartphone or GPS device) on a guided ride on the gentle trails of Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain.
Navigation Basic
Participants will be introduced to using the Garmin eTrex GPS device on an instructor-led ride on gentle trails of Franklin Park. Mechanical instruction on basic pre-ride inspection and flat repair on route.
Navigation Advanced
Participants will utilize the Garmin eTrex to lead portions of a group ride on gentle to moderate trails Franklin Park. Mechanical instruction on brake adjustment will be provided on route.
Wayfinding Basic
Participants will lead portions of a longer ride on local trails with slightly rougher terrain, and make key decisions including when and where to stop for breaks. Mechanical instruction on derailleur tuning will be provided on route.
Wayfinding Advanced
Participants will lead an entire ride on local trails featuring rough terrain with minimal instructor guidance, with a focus on group decision making for navigating difficult terrain and access restrictions (e.g., off-limits to bikes or unsafe terrain). Mechanical instruction on chain repair will be provided on route.
Capstone
Participants will synthesize skills learned in the Navigation and Wayfinding curriculum by creating a bicycle-friendly route to/from Blue Hills Reservation, and will navigate a challenging course through Blue Hills requiring on-the-fly decision making and proficiency with one or more mechanical skills (e.g., fix-a-flat, brake and derailleur adjustment, and/or chain repair).
Frequently asked questions
How are you working to build a diverse community around cycling?
Urbandirt is working with leadership of Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) to identify instructional leaders and course participants specifically from the Boston neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Dorchester, which have high populations of Black, Hispanic, and Asian backgrounds - all of which have been historically underrepresented in the cycling community. As part of the recruitment effort, BNB will assist the School recruit instructors and participants from within its current programs as well the vast alumni network that it has cultivated throughout decades of serving Boston communities.
The School’s core mission is strongly aligned with BNB, which seeks to leverage the bicycle for social change through a wide array of skills programming for youth. The School of Dirt seeks to complement these programs by increasing trail riding and navigation competencies among youth from the same communities that BNB presently serves. A key objective of the School is to identify and promote individuals from these communities into leadership positions within the School, both in an instructional capacity and at the director level.
Notes on Instructional Staff: We are presently working with Bikes Not Bombs, MIT Cycling club, and members of the local Cycling community to assemble an instructional staff that is racially, economically, and gender-diverse. In the near-term, the School is seeking to identify a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to help coordinate DEI training for instructors, and ensure the School’s implementation and growth embodies DEI principles. Additionally, the School will fund one Youth Ambassador (ideally a Bikes Not Bombs alumni from a community that the School seeks to serve) to assist with on-site logistics, as well as ongoing coordination and communication among youth participants.
instructor / participant enrollment
Interested in enrolling in the School of Dirt or helping out as an instructor? Email charlie@urbandirt.org and we'll keep you up to date as the School shifts into higher gear!
support us
To make the School a reality, we are relying upon the generosity of anyone who can afford to give! No amount is too large or too small. Please help us raise $12,000 by May 15th.
