Program gets wheels turnin'

Big raindrops fell on Yvonne Martinez's head Thursday afternoon, but the 11-year-old didn't look up. She was busy putting the finishing touches on her own freedom summer.

For Yvonne and 10 other students at the Central City Recreation Center, eight weeks of work came to fruition this week. They're newly minted bike mechanics, having completed the first YouthCity bike-smarts program. But their quick parade through the gym Friday afternoon was only the start. Having resurrected a dozen impounded, and in most cases mangled, bicycles, the young cyclists have plans. Where might they go with their wheels?

"Lagoon," joked Yvonne. She has worked with Jason Bultman of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, the nonprofit group that supplied YouthCity with parts, helmets and guidance.

Seriously, Yvonne said, she'll go to the park on her black steed. Did she ever think she could completely overhaul her own vehicle?

Well, "yes," of course. Plus Bultman helped equip it with a gyro cable that enables the front wheel to spin 360 degrees.

What's the benefit of that?

"Tricks," replied Bultman. Apparently the bike class wasn't limited to stodgy traffic laws.

The afternoon program taught the students self-sufficiency on several planes. "When you're out there on a bike, you have to be more responsible for yourself, looking out for yourself," since too often motorists aren't looking for you, said YouthCity coordinator Ken Perko. The bike collective volunteers who ran the class also screened some Tour de France coverage, not only to expand their horizons but show them helmets are cool.

Emir Kahriman, an 11-year-old refugee from Bosnia, impressed Perko and the other teachers with his work.

"The moment of the summer for me," Perko said, "was when Emir had been asking me, 'Have you seen my bike? Have you seen it?' So I go over, and he's just looking at it." Then Emir said in a low voice, "I'm so proud."

"I could see the pride coming out of him," Perko said. "It was beyond just 'Oh, I get a free bike.' "

Habib Sopoye, 14, is a YouthCity cyclist originally from Chad in north central Africa. He was given a bicycle in June that was "really pretty messed up." Like the rest of the bikes in the class, it had been rotting at the Salt Lake City impound lot for about two years. Friday afternoon, it made its debut at the recreation center, bright yellow like the sun. "We got to choose the colors," Habib said. His smile shone far more brightly.

"I put everything on it," he said of his born-again bike.

"These kids learned to repair anything that goes wrong," added bike collective member Jonathan Morrison. No need for gasoline, no need to wait for a bus, no fear of a malfunction they can't fix: It all means freedom.

Bike shops including Contender and Fisher subsidized parts, and Steel Coatings Inc. gave each bike a new paint job.

YouthCity director Janet Wolf marveled at the summer's transformation, a two-way street between rider and bike. "That bike program," she said, "was beyond our dreams."

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E-mail: durbani@desnews.com