A program that promotes safe, affordable and pollution-free transportation for and with youth aged 11-19. Its major components are a bicycle shop in which youth repair and recycle bikes, with opportunities to earn a free bike; bike classes and events; and a racing team.

How and why did this program get started?

Chain reaction grew out of problems with transportation in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 1998, a group of teenagers working as interns with EcoDesign Corps, a program to improve communities from the ground up, explored transportation issues, urban green spaces and agriculture. They heard speakers and did research on various transportation options. The research showed that although bikes got the highest ratings in terms of cost, environmental benefits, and other criteria - they were the least used form of transportation compare with mass transit and cars. So their main recommendation at the end of the program was to establish a recycle-a-bike program for Washington, D.C.

The program started the next fall with volunteer mechanics teaching eight students bike repair, using a manual created by a similar bike program in New York City. It focused on promoting bikes not just as a source of fun and recreation, but as a valuable community asset with financial, health, and environmental benefits. More bikes and youth began rolling in, and Chain Reaction grew from there.

Who is involved?
Participants find out about the program through word of mouth or just walking around the neighborhood. Jimmy, 17, found the shop when walking his bike home with a flat tire: "They were just closing, and I asked if they could spare an inner tube, and I just signed up from there." Brandon, a 15-year-old, stopped in out of curiosity. "I came in and started talking to Andy [Fasig, the program's manager] and ever since then I've been coming. I like it here because it keeps me out of trouble, and I'm learning a lot about doing major repairs - I still have a lot to learn, but you can do that just hanging out around the shop."

Joining the program is easy. Anyone who takes a 3-hour bike safety course is eligible for everything else Chain Reaction offers: classes, group bike rides, and eventually, a job in the bike shop or a spot on the racing team. By the fall of 2001, 100 young people had become members, and 20 of them earned a bicycle.

What goes on as part of this program?

In the spring of 2001, Chain Reaction opened in a small street-corner storefront in a heavily trafficked area of Washington. It's open 18 hours/week (Tuesday - Friday 4-7pm; Saturday 1-6pm) to accommodate school schedules of the employees who run the shop with the help of the program manager. Youth mechanics do repairs and fix donated bikes and re-sell them, generating revenue to support Chain Reaction.

In addition to the bike shop, the program includes classes in mechanics, bike safety, careers in bicycling, and understanding bikes in the community. Participants receive "shop dollars" to exchange for a recycled bike. The teens organize group bike rides to parks and monuments in the spring and fall, as well as every other week in the summer, and put on a "bike rodeo" event in the street outside the shop, with an obstacle course, riders doing demonstrations on trick bikes, promotions on bike safety and bike organizations, prizes and so forth. Chain Reaction also has an urban racing team sponsored by a fellow local team; members volunteer in the bike shop and use donated bikes if they don't have their own.

How has the program changed the community - and the participating teens?

Besides turning on youth to bicycling, Chain Reaction has transformed the street corner where its bike shop is located, just a couple blocks from an elementary and junior high school. People were excited to have change in the neighborhood, and started coming by the shop even before it was officially open. The previous shop tenant was often closed due to the sometimes-threatening presence of loiterers and occasional drug activity outside; a take-out restaurant next door sold mainly beer, and a nearby vacant lot that was full of litter. After Chain Reaction opened and the new owner of the restaurant stopped selling alcohol, things began to change. Chain Reaction has become a draw for youth who come by to borrow tools, put air in their bike tires, or just hang out with friends."

Chain Reaction fills a niche for customers who want basic, low-cost but functioning bikes. It exceeded its business goals its first season by doing 400 bicycle repairs and recycling 50 bicycles (and even got a backlog of donated bikes to fix up and sell, because they were so busy with repairs). "There's a change in the atmosphere and the teenagers are taking on more and more leadership in managing the bike shop," says Ondine Wilhelm, director of Shaw Ecovillage. "Andy Fasig knows how to let young people have fun and take ownership of the space, while also keeping things respectful and focused."

The program has also made connections with different sectors of the bike community: advocates, racers, and messengers. All the publicity has been through word of mouth, and lots of people are coming from outside the immediate neighborhood, many noting that their own neighborhoods could use this kind of program.

"When I came here, I didn't know a lot, but they told me more," says Jimmy, who works four days a week at the shop and is on the racing team. "So it could lead to other jobs - bike repair is just a good skill to have."

Challenges

Communicating safety rules is a constant challenge. "We require helmets on our rides, and for employees coming to or leaving work," says Wilhelm. "But it's hard because it's seen as not cool, and even harder if parents aren't backing us up."

Chain Reaction is also working on keeping participants. The promise of earning a free bike is a powerful initial incentive, but some teens tend to lose interest. So the program may offer shorter-term classes with different levels; and possibly an all-girls bike class to deal with gender disparity between male and female participants. The dominance of males can be positive for the boys, but tends to be intimidating for girls; only a couple girls have remained dedicated to the program - one of whom is on the racing team.

Most of the general public is supportive of Chain Reaction, but as a business it has encountered customers who don't understand that the program's first priority is not entrepreneurship, but rather working with the youth. Repairs aren't always as timely or thorough as they might be, but they allow people with a faultily repaired bike to bring it back and have the problem solved.

Are Adults involved?

Andy Fasig manages the Chain Reaction program and shop

Ondine Wilhelm is the Executive Director of Shaw Ecovillage, which runs Chain Reaction and other programs to help youth make sustainable changes in their neighborhoods

Contact information

Shaw Ecovillage