Part of our internship program involves each intern writing a weekly blog about a particular topic they’ve learned or discovered. Today, Michael Chettleburgh, interning with us this summer from Indiana University, has tackled the blog:
I have always considered cycling to be a big part of my life. Cycling really helped me in middle school, both with my fitness as well as a means to socialize with others. Now, as a senior in college, I have met some of my closest friends through riding bikes and plan to continue riding as a lifelong hobby. Seeing the many benefits of cycling has definitely given me a greater appreciation of the activity and pushes me to encourage my family and friends to ride. Through all of this I realized where my passion is and it led me to Nine13sports.
Michael is enjoying the opportunity of getting youth of all ages active on two wheels during his time at Nine13!
When I first looked into Nine13sports, I was hooked right away. For kids of all ages to have the chance to ride bikes together each week was something I wish I had growing up. Being able to influence kids to ride bikes was one of my goals when I first started interning, and it’s been great being able to do this already in just the few weeks we’ve been at the Boys and Girls Clubs this summer.
Interning with Nine13sports has given me a chance to get Kids Riding Bikes® on a daily basis. Getting hundreds of kids on our bikes every day and seeing how the kids are genuinely excited to ride bikes makes my day. Not only do we get to see them excited to be active, but we see them excited to be active with their friends. Many times the kids will cheer each other on to the finish and continuously come back to ride the bikes over and over again.
Even after being at the Boys and Girls Clubs around Indianapolis for just a few weeks, I have seen the kid’s excitement grow each time we bring the bikes in. Seeing the kids each week get more competitive but also more supportive of their peers while riding, has been an awesome experience so far. I’m very excited to see how the kids change and how their overall enjoyment of bike riding develops over the next few weeks.