El Grupo Origins
4 years ago in a place far, far, away in the Sonoran Desert a group of kids asked me for more after the turn of the century. I had been teaching a bike riding class at a local small high school in downtown Tucson, City High, where the kids decided that it was just not enough. We had done a few charity events, centuries and such and students from different school were starting to come to practices. I mean kids were willingly going to a different school to participate in a school thing. I had a team on my hands and it was because they wanted it so I obliged. The kids were not jocks or sport types, no one was on the basketball team and none of them could afford there own bikes or equipment. They were just high school and middle school kids who needed something anything to get excited about. They came from every walk of life and different neighborhoods.
The team was created for the kids that asked for it and it has become my favorite thing to do. We started with no budget, no place to meet, no team bikes, no uniforms, really nothing but spirit. So we proceeded by fixing up bikes that we obtained from our local bicycle recyclery, that we worked for, we wore hand me down shorts, mismatching jerseys, and tennis shoes. So on we went with our 1970’s and 80’s steel bikes and we started to ride with more purpose and goals.
When we started all practices met at my house, in the back yard, practices ended at my house with my wife, who rides with us, making the kids toast, because it was affordable. The kids with my help then as now all fixed there own bikes and put them together using all recycled parts and they still fight over who is going to get the newest pair of used shorts. Funding at the start was what my wallet could handle but thanks to my wife, the executive director, it has grown a bit.
The team has grown as well over the years and we have quite a few trophies, prizes, and accolades to our name. The bikes we ride though havent changed a bit we still ride old steel with old recycled parts but now most of us have the cool clip in shoes. We now have a club house, really an over grown locker room where we meet and end practices, team jerseys, and a fleet of recycled bikes mountain and road for the team to ride. We have gone on many bicycle tours, we have been invited to races in Mexico, we have won State Championships, we have won every El Tour we have ever entered in our division.
However I must say though it is not the State Champions on the team that I am most excited about, not the races we have won, not the many first’s the team has been a part of (like being the only kids team ever to race the 24 hour Mountian bike race, co-ed no less with two teams in 09), it’s the fact that most of the kids from the original team have graduated high school and gone on to college, that the team now is compromised of good kids who expect things from themselves and are willing to try harder then they ever thought possible and that they are setting and achieving life goals that have nothing to do with cycling but everything to do with being good individuals.
That’s why I coach. Thanks Team!!!
But don’t worry we’ll be ready for the races, and yeah we will still be out there with our steel bikes and down tube shifters.
4 years ago in a place far, far, away in the Sonoran Desert a group of kids asked me for more after the turn of the century. I had been teaching a bike riding class at a local small high school in downtown Tucson, City High, where the kids decided that it was just not enough. We had done a few charity events, centuries and such and students from different school were starting to come to practices. I mean kids were willingly going to a different school to participate in a school thing. I had a team on my hands and it was because they wanted it so I obliged. The kids were not jocks or sport types, no one was on the basketball team and none of them could afford there own bikes or equipment. They were just high school and middle school kids who needed something anything to get excited about. They came from every walk of life and different neighborhoods.
The team was created for the kids that asked for it and it has become my favorite thing to do. We started with no budget, no place to meet, no team bikes, no uniforms, really nothing but spirit. So we proceeded by fixing up bikes that we obtained from our local bicycle recyclery, that we worked for, we wore hand me down shorts, mismatching jerseys, and tennis shoes. So on we went with our 1970’s and 80’s steel bikes and we started to ride with more purpose and goals.
When we started all practices met at my house, in the back yard, practices ended at my house with my wife, who rides with us, making the kids toast, because it was affordable. The kids with my help then as now all fixed there own bikes and put them together using all recycled parts and they still fight over who is going to get the newest pair of used shorts. Funding at the start was what my wallet could handle but thanks to my wife, the executive director, it has grown a bit.
The team has grown as well over the years and we have quite a few trophies, prizes, and accolades to our name. The bikes we ride though havent changed a bit we still ride old steel with old recycled parts but now most of us have the cool clip in shoes. We now have a club house, really an over grown locker room where we meet and end practices, team jerseys, and a fleet of recycled bikes mountain and road for the team to ride. We have gone on many bicycle tours, we have been invited to races in Mexico, we have won State Championships, we have won every El Tour we have ever entered in our division.
However I must say though it is not the State Champions on the team that I am most excited about, not the races we have won, not the many first’s the team has been a part of (like being the only kids team ever to race the 24 hour Mountian bike race, co-ed no less with two teams in 09), it’s the fact that most of the kids from the original team have graduated high school and gone on to college, that the team now is compromised of good kids who expect things from themselves and are willing to try harder then they ever thought possible and that they are setting and achieving life goals that have nothing to do with cycling but everything to do with being good individuals.
That’s why I coach. Thanks Team!!!
But don’t worry we’ll be ready for the races, and yeah we will still be out there with our steel bikes and down tube shifters.
4 comments:
Beautiful story of great beginnings. Long live El Grupo!!!!!
after all of the kindness El Grupo has shown me, logan, i would not have it any other way. And i hope that that story is told for many more years!
You've got quite an amazing story here, but most importantly I'm glad I can be part of it. Thanks for everything Nacho!!
-Pablo
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