At 7:30 on a recent Wednesday morning on West Club Boulevard, Durham’s youngest cycling squad started their commute to E.K. Powe Elementary School.
With jackets zipped against the cold air, bike lights flashing, and neon visibility vests catching the sun’s early rays, the peloton of about 10 kids—flanked by parents—had clearly left their training wheels far behind as they zoomed down the side streets of Old West Durham.
The route, under a mile in length, took the cyclists about the same amount of time that it would have taken in a car. And, with the right preparation, it was perfectly safe for kids of every age.
The E.K. Powe bike train isn’t new. Parents and students have been gathering at this spot for about a year and a half. But the group has taken on new significance as Durham Public Schools continues to lack sufficient bus transit for students and parents seek new ways to get their children safely to school. Last month, the district implemented “family responsibility zones,” areas in which students do not receive district transportation, for 21 elementary schools including Powe.
While biking isn’t an option for everyone—bikes can be expensive, and many Durham neighborhood roads are built for fast cars, not children on bikes—the Powe parent organizers hope that other residents are similarly inspired.
“Anyone can come, anyone can ride,” says Scotty Mathess, bike train co-organizer alongside David Bradway. “The kids really enjoy it. They talk, they banter, they race a little, and it’s just another time when they can see their friends and just have a good time before school and get stoked for the day.”
INDY can independently verify that the kids seemed to enjoy all parts of the ride—before the bike train left, several budding scholar-cyclists were spotted taking turns dropping rocks on a frozen puddle. And once they’re old enough to bike without supervision, they’ll enjoy the freedom of having one’s own set of two wheels.
The Powe bike train has also greatly benefited from the support of Bike Durham, a nonprofit that advocates for safe and equitable access to biking, walking and transit. While hustling to provide help to DPS families where needed, Bike Durham has seen an opportunity in the bus crisis to promote cycling. Jacopo Montobbio, the nonprofit’s education program manager, lives in the neighborhood. That morning, he dropped in to hand out bike lights and Bike Durham stickers to the students.
Across town, though, Montobbio is more worried about the safety of students attending Hope Valley Elementary. As ABC11 reported, many students walking or biking there will have to cross University Drive, where cars push 40 mph in a 25 mph zone, and there is no suitable crosswalk.
“Our job at Bike Durham is to make sure that we hear from these local neighborhood organizations and make sure that these projects get to the city, either through DPS or through us,” says Montobbio.
Mathess hopes that this crisis leads to some lasting, positive change in the city.
“They’re probably going to fix the problem, get more bus drivers, and then forget about the whole thing,” he says. “But the next time there’s a crisis, perhaps the streets will be ready and the infrastructure will be in place to make it easier for the next generation of kids to be able to safely walk and bike to school.”