The BWorks team is excited to have recently welcomed Wesley Wilcox as a part-time bike mechanic. It was just a handful of years ago that Wesley completed the Earn-A-Bike program growing up, and now he is busy refurbishing bikes for current students.
We recently checked in with Wesley, who began working with us earlier this summer, to hear how things are going so far and learn more about his love for the world of bicycles, and particularly BMX.
He said bikes have long been an important aspect of his life, even when he was very young. One of his earliest bike-related memories took place in a local library.
“I’ve always been interested in jumping stuff and making little ramps and stuff,” Wesley explained. “But as a kid, I actually found a book at the library about BMX racing, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is sick.’”
By age 10, he was regularly spending time at Benton Park-headquartered Ramp Riders, an indoor skate park and pro shop, and by 12 or 13 he was volunteering there. Then in high school he landed a job at the facility, where he still plays an important role.
“My family’s just always been a big bike family,” Wesley said.
He’s especially invested in the culture and history of BMX. He films videos, and has a sponsorship with Animal Bikes. But he also does a lot of riding on his mountain bike and road bike around the St. Louis area.
“It’s freedom,” Wesley said. “You can get from Point A to Point B really easily. I feel like in the city at least you can get places easier on a bike sometimes.”
He uses his bikes for everything, including food delivery at times.
“I load up my bike trailer with laundry, I go to the farmer’s market, I go to shows,” Wesley explained. “It’s very fun, it’s very relaxing and takes my mind off things. I just go out and explore the city on my bike for a couple hours.”
That sort of freedom and utility, both as a kid and now as an adult, is something Wesley wants to see every young person experience. When he’s at the shop, his enthusiasm while working on a BWorks student’s selected stead is obvious and infectious.
“I love getting kids on bikes,” he said. “Whenever I’m building a bike, I want the kid to be hyped up about the bike.”
Over the course of the past six and a half years, longtime staff teacher Mark Smith has worked with thousands of BWorks students in our Earn-A-Bike, Earn-A-Computer and Learn-To-Ride courses. He’s been an integral part of BWorks’ success in inspiring local children and teens to dream big, care about the world around them and explore new possibilities through experiential learning.
He’s done this work for many years alongside an intensive day job, most recently serving as a local middle school English teacher. But this month, Mark is beginning a new chapter with BWorks, taking the plunge to join us as a full-time employee. This is a huge and exciting change, with Mark eagerly taking on a variety of offsite classes and events this fall, many of them in partnership with local schools, in addition to regular duties onsite at our headquarters. Mark is also a big asset for our mechanical team.
We recently sat down with Mark, who is an avid mountain biker, to ask him a few questions as he enters this new phase.
We’re so excited to have you on board in an expanded role. What are you most excited about as you look toward a bigger role with St. Louis BWorks?
I really love teaching. My most recent full-time job was teaching middle school English. While it was extremely fulfilling, something was missing. I missed “home.” Home for me is being involved in the outdoor recreation industry. It is something I have done for more than 20 years, and BWorks marries two things I love to do. I enjoy being an ambassador for cycling and being a conduit for young people in hopes they take an interest in outdoor activities. That is what I am most looking forward to. St. Louis BWorks wants to reach more students and provide them with outdoor recreation opportunities, and I want to be a part of that change.
When did you first become involved with BWorks, and what do you remember about those early days with the organization?
I started working at St. Louis BWorks in the spring of 2017 or 2018. My initial time at BWorks was spent working in the bike shop. When I was asked if I wanted to teach, I jumped at the chance. I spent most of my initial time as a teacher with BWorks teaching Earn-A-Bike classes offsite. Getting paid to ride your bike is the best!
Sometime we should count back and document just how many Earn-A-Bike, Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Computer courses you have taught as a BWorks teacher. You are quite the BWorks veteran and will now be teaching even more, year-round! As a teacher, why do the lessons in our programs stand out to you, or what do you think sets them apart? And what keeps you motivated to keep delivering these classes to local students?
Yes, I have taught a lot of classes at BWorks. (This really seems like a slick way to say I am “old,” but I will answer your question.) Our classes help open up kids’ minds to possibilities. When we teach the students about computers, we are demystifying a machine they use every day. Teaching the students how to stay safe on the road, while riding their bicycle, lets them know a bicycle can stand for freedom. There are so many things kids can do nowadays, but I enjoy seeing them realize riding a bike can unlock so many other enjoyable adventures. My daughter is a graduate of both the Earn-A-Bike and Earn-A-Computer courses. I remember when she decided to ride her bike to her grandmother’s house on the other side of University City from our house. This class helped prepare her for that adventure.
My motivation comes from me being able to continue to help others come to these realizations — and others I may have not thought of yet.
Are there one or two moments that have stuck with you over the years? Can you describe the moment(s) and what made it so special?
Yes. Once I was teaching an offsite class. It was day five of the class, so we are not quite ready for the graduation ride, but we have been working on drills and playing games to get the students ready for the graduation ride. This particular day we were playing The Incredible Shrinking Room. The goal of the game is to stay on your bike and stay inside the circle that gets smaller as the game goes on. It is a great game for working on your slow-speed bike handling. But this particular day, I had a student realize she could just slowly ride straight toward other students and benignly scare them into putting their foot down on the ground, which would eliminate them from the game. I made eye-contact with the student, and she knew that I knew what she planned to do to win the game. She then proceeded to glide straight into another student’s bike. It did not work since both students put their foot down on the ground, but I laughed out loud when she decided to make a go of her sneaky strategy. It was hilarious.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Just that if there is ever a St. Louis BWorks West, say, somewhere near the mountains, I am putting in for a transfer. LOL.
We have two part time positions, or one full time position for the right candidate. Both positions are up to 20 hours per week, Starting at $20/hr.Please check out the job descriptions at the links below and feel free to email us with any questions.
Last week, when news broke of nine-year-old Codi Walker being tragically pinned between two vehicles by a reckless, hit-and-run pickup truck driver — right beside a playground in St. Louis’ Baden neighborhood as Codi helped his mother unload a toy from their correctly parked van — community members cried out, pleading for real action and change. This outcry included members of our youth-focused nonprofit organization.
While our decades-long focus on bike education for the children and teens of St. Louis is, and should always be, full of joy (we get to witness hundreds of local youth every year gain lifelong skills and empowerment through our free Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Bike programs), we are deeply troubled to see yet another child harmed on area streets, in crosswalks, on sidewalks, and yes, even just trying to access a playground, as in this recent case.
BWorks exists to inspire children to pursue their dreams, care for the world around them, and explore new possibilities through experiential learning. But when a family or child cannot access the outdoors, or school, reasonably safely due to traffic violence, fulfillment of that mission becomes difficult indeed.
The human carnage on city streets continues to escalate, leading to increasingly frequent injury and death. St. Louisans increasingly feel deeply and reasonably anxious about everything from daily travel to work and school to simply accessing green spaces for much-needed refuge and fun within our communities. Driver behavior has become more and more shocking, violent and damaging.
It’s going to take a wide variety of efforts, from education to enforcement to infrastructure, to curb this crisis. BWorks is doing our part, and even growing our efforts and our team at present on behalf of St. Louis youth. Community members are doing their part, supporting victim after victim through GoFundMe efforts. And victims themselves, such as courageous Janae Edmondson, have gone above and beyond to speak out about the injustices, trauma and systemic neglect they have experienced.
We need your partnership, too, and are writing to urge our local courts and prosecutors to consistently and firmly hold reckless drivers accountable for the consequences of their actions on St. Louis streets. St. Louis BWorks recognizes that along with designing safer streets and educating road users, better outcomes require that those operating motor vehicles in an unsafe manner must be motivated to do better. That includes holding them accountable for doing otherwise. We must no longer tolerate the inhumane driver behavior that is endangering innocent children including Janae and Codi and so many others, and all of us, day after day after day.
Thank you for your important work on behalf of the citizens of St. Louis. We are happy to talk further.
Sincerely,
Patrick Van Der Tuin, executive director, Evie Hemphill, programs director
