GALLUP, N.M. - The New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division, a division of the Economic Development Department, awarded Gallup-based non-profit Silver Stallion $10,000 to create a Mobile Ride Center to fix the bikes of youth in the Navajo Nation who have been struggling under the COVID-19 Health Emergency Orders, EDD Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced.
The grant to Silver Stallion was made outside of the normal grant cycle as an emergency COVID-19 response to the urgent needs of the community.
The Mobile Ride Center will begin travelling throughout the Navajo Nation when it is safe to do so, based on the Governor's public health order. The center will offer a mobile bike shop providing socially distanced bike repair and bringing bike development programming to youth 18 and younger.
"The Economic Development Department saw this opportunity and made this award quickly to help this bike repair business get started as soon as it is safe to do so," Cabinet Secretary Keyes said. "As far as we know there are no other bike repair opportunities like this in the Gallup area. The Mobile Ride Center will be providing a valuable service to get kids outside on safe and reliable bicycles."
“McKinley County was one of the hardest hit counties in our nation from the COVID-19 health emergency,” ORD Director Axie Navas said. “This grant from the state, plus the other investments from the Outride and Catena Foundations, will help Diné youth get back on their bikes for the transportation and recreational benefits they provide.”
The state funding for the Mobile Ride Center also helped bring in approximately $43,000 in out-of-state money to support the Diné mountain bike teams. Silver Stallion raised an additional $23,000 through public donations with a matching grant from the Outride Fund to support their youth bike development programs, and it is awaiting the final award amount from the recreation-focused Catena Foundation.
The Mobile Ride Center will be following the COVID-safe practice guidance from the governor, including social distancing, mask-wearing, and sanitizing. There will not be any youth development programs until the governor’s health orders say it is safe.
The team at Silver Stallion has close ties to the Hopi, Diné, and Gallup communities, having already set up middle and high school mountain bike teams in those areas. Their staff experience includes United Bicycle Institute Mechanic Certification, a professional mountain bike team mechanic, international bicycle racing, and team management experience.
Many opportunities that people in the U.S. take for granted do not readily exist for Native Reservation communities. Across the combined 29,500+ square miles of the Hopi and Diné (Navajo) land there isn’t a single bicycle shop. Residents must travel to towns as far as Gallup to find support. With the health emergency restrictions, such travel has become extremely difficult.
Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee Works, Inc., a 501c-3, seeks to offset these and other systemic challenges, made even more apparent by the COVID-19 emergency, that halt bicycle industry access and participation. Silver Stallion hopes to expand grassroot youth development programming by providing a foundation of nationally vetted successful programs throughout the region.
“This is absolutely a grassroots effort, but it also requires the support of heavy lifters like the [bicycle] industry and New Mexico State,” Scott Nydam, Executive Director of Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee Works said. “We are hugely grateful to Axie Navas and the Outdoor Equity Fund for responding to this effort!”
Nydam also serves as Gallup Composite Head Coach and Diné Composite Team Manager.
He received the 2019 Quality Bike Products Community Impact Award with his efforts helping start Navajo Nation-based National Interscholastic Cycling Association programming.
If you are interested in more info or collaborating with this project, can email info@bicyclecoffee.org.