El Grupo empowers youth through bicycles; plenty of the young cyclists will be part of El Tour in November

El Grupo has been with Perimeter Bicycling and El Tour de Tucson for a number of years, so much so some of the children who grew up in the program are now adults who cycle in and around Tucson, including in El Tour.

It’s a storied program where El Tour sees the benefits of present and future cyclists.

El Grupo empowers youth through bicycles. Through our six different after school programs, youth ages 7-18 years old develop both bike and life skills. The programs use bicycles as a vehicle, literally and figuratively, to teach self-trust, communication skills, and goal setting through positive youth development. Because of El Grupo, youth not only learn how to navigate streets – they learn how to effectively navigate the world.

El Grupo has added another program (to serve underserved youth) and another bike program (Davis Elementary to its catalog with “both of the programs having gender parity and increasing the population we serve” said Denise Aquino, El Grupo’s executive director.  “In the year and a three or so months I’ve been here, I’m happy with the changes so far, but there’s always more to grow.”

Once again, El Grupo will have a sizable team riding in El Tour, riding in many events, including Bike Patrol – “helping keep everyone safe,” she said.

Aquino will be there too, riding along with an El Grupo member. Both will be riding in their first 100-mile event.

“I’m definitely anxious about it,” she said. “I’ve never done it before. I don’t come from a cycling background, but that’s the best part of it. You don’t need to come from a cycling background to do it.”

She figures even though she doesn’t have that cycling background it shows the younger riders “that you don’t have to be perfect to do something, you don’t have to be super fast … you just got to keep trying.”

And they do – and have for many years in El Tour.

“We’re grateful to El Tour for giving us the opportunity to use the platform,” Aquino said.

Grupo has a number of different programs for the kids, including:

Team El Grupo is a year-round after-school program for youth ages 12-18 that fosters healthy values through goal-oriented cycling and leadership development, serving almost 40 youth weekly.

El Grupito, a semester-long after-school program that encourages youth ages 7-13 to build skills and confidence, be active and healthy, and have fun through bike riding and camaraderie, serving more than 50 kids weekly.

Manzo Elementary Bike Club is a semester-based program that engages youth in an after-school bike riding club to build skills, confidence, and healthy habits at this low-income school, serving more than kids weekly.

Bike Packing is a program for youth ages 13-18 who are interested in adventure biking. The youth in this program are challenged by loading their bikes with gear and riding into the mountains to camp.

Uno a Uno is a goal based program focused on empowering youth who need one on one attention on a bicycle.

Summer Bike Camp focuses on safe bike riding and independence for every skill level and promoting health and wellness for youth to over 150 kids, ages 6-13 during the month of June.  Team El Grupo participants gain job and leadership experience as camp counselors.

El Grupo Leads is a program that’s defined by and developed with youth voice. It currently serves youth ages 12-14 who focus on goal-setting both on and off the bicycle.