ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Community leaders honored two high school seniors Thursday morning who participated in a two-wheeled tour-de-force. Students on the west side are finishing up at the Duke City Leadership Bike Club.
As part of the program, students receive a bike and a new bike kit. With the help of volunteers from Albuquerque’s lowrider community, the students customize their bikes. “Each one got a lowrider bike to build. And the bike is just a tool, to reach the kids and point them in the right direction. I come from a past, 12 years clean from crystal meth. And I’m here to pour into these kids: instead of making a left, we want them to make a right,” said Rob Vanderslice, Low Rider Bike after-school program coordinator.
Thursday, the club presented two participating graduates with the bikes they built. The program has ten chapters across the country and they’re looking to expand it into more low-income communities in Albuquerque.