A unique bike club at Compton-Drew

Thirteen-year-old Riona Wade said the Dolphin Bike Club at Compton-Drew Middle School is not only fun. She said it "keeps me motivated" to get good grades.

 

Riona Wade

The Dolphin Bike Club is the only one in Missouri where the school actually owns and maintains the bikes that the kids use.

And, the St. Louis City school has requirements for club membership. One of them is that they maintain or improve their grades and have good behavior in school.

Physical education teacher Mimi Deem said the membership standards "seem to serve as a stimulant" for better grades and better behavior. The academic requirement is that members have to maintain at least Cs in all their classes.

And their teachers give periodic reports on their behavior, Ms. Deem said.

But, rewards are substantial. For one thing, they get to ride one of 30 mountain bikes that the school purchased. Also, a team of volunteer mechanics keeps the bikes in good working order.

Kyle Sipe

Thirteen-year-old Kyle Sipe is another club member who said his membership helped him keep attention on his grades. "I went from Cs and Bs to Bs and As," he said.

Kyle has found another benefit. He owns a 21-speed Mongoose bike he leaves at school and uses on club trips. A motivation: bike club mechanics maintain his bike too.

Ms. Deem said the club meets weekly and has at least one major out-of-town bike ride each semester.

This fall, the bike members took an overnight ride to Principia College at Elsah, Ill. They did the 45-mile trip to Elsah one day and then stayed overnight at the college. After touring the college, they rode back to St. Louis.

Kyesha Wilson

Twelve-year-old Kyesha Wilson said she especially liked the Principia trip because of the food. "The college had really good food," she said.

She said the trip to Elsah went easy because there weren't very many hills and they had a tail wind. "But, coming back, we rode into the wind all the way. That was hard," she said.

Twelve-year-old Bridgit Dunahee is in her first year in the Dolphin club.

Bridgit Dunahee

She said, "My brother and one of my friends were in the club and said it was fun. So, I wanted to try it."

She said the Principia trip was her first long trip. She said the trip took 5 to 7 hours and was "kinda hard."

On the long trips, a parent will drive a support vehicle that brings along repair parts, snacks and other supplies.

The first part of every semester is spent in shorter conditioning rides. Twice around nearby Forest Park provides a good warmup for their out-of-town trip.

Riona Wade said she liked the Forest Park trips because they included stops at the Missouri Art and History museums in the park. "I especially liked the pictures at the art museum," she said.

Kyle Sipe is in his second year with the Dolphin club. He said the longer out-of-town trip last year was a 110-mile ride on the Katy Trail. But, that trip didn't turn out the way it was planned.

The original plan was to ride their bikes to Jeff City, tour the state capitol and then ride back to St. Louis on the Amtrak train. But, the kids didn't get the train ride because an accident on the route blocked the tracks.

They rode back on a bus. But, Kyle saw a bright side to the plan change. "At least it wasn't our train that was in the wreck," he said.

Ms. Deem said the club is hoping to take a very unique long trip next spring. She said, "We are trying to arrange for a trip in Ohio to follow a route of the 'underground railroad.' (That's a route former slaves took from south to north during the Civil War.)"

"That trip might involve four nights," she said.

All of the club members interviewed said they owned a bike at home. But, most of them admitted they didn't do much repair.

Eighth-grader Riona Wade said, "If a chain pops, I know how to fix that." She said that usually happens when she's shifting gears. But, she added, "If I have a flat tire, I let my mom fix that."

Seventh-grader Kyesha Wilson has an even better plan for getting her bike fixed. "If something goes wrong, I call my uncle," she said.

The current Dolphin Club membership ranges from 30 to 35 kids.