National Ride for Reading Week!

Tuesday, our friends at the Alpine Chamber of Commerce organized a Ride for Reading delivery and we were happy to be a part of this free book delivery to the kids at Alpine Elementary School.  In January, we organized deliveries in Terlingua and Fort Davis, allowing every elementary school child in those communities to take home two books of their own choosing...as their very own.

Volunteer riders (escorted by city police) rode their bikes to the elementary school where the kids were waiting for us, chanting "We love books, We love books!"  Then, grade by grade, the kids assembled in the school cafeteria, took the Ride for Reading oath, and chose their books.

Today, we're helping with another delivery in Dell City, near Guadalupe Mountains National Park! 

Our Ride for Reading Deliveries Shared by Bike Texas

Our friends at Bike Texas have helped us share cycling news from the Texas Mountains, and they graciously published our article on last month's Ride for Reading deliveries in Fort Davis, Terlingua and El Paso on their website.  Here's the link the article on their site (and we invite you to poke around and see what this great organization has to offer Texas cyclists!) and below is the article in its entirety.

Texas, Let's Ride for Reading!

By Beth Nobles
Executive Director, Texas Mountain Trail

I’ll say it: “It is the best thing I’ve done on a bike.”
Last month, it has made U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke feel like a “rock star.” It made kids, teachers, and scores of cyclists from El Paso, Terlingua, and Fort Davis very happy. What was it? Ride for Reading deliveries in Far West Texas.


Ride for Reading’s founder, Matthew Portell, says this:

During my first year of teaching, I asked my students to read for 15 minutes at home each night. One student replied that he didn’t have any books at home to read. It didn’t take me long to realize that student’s problem wasn’t unique. According to the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, the ratio of books per child in low-income neighborhoods is one age-appropriate book for every 300 children. I felt compelled to do something to help my students and others like them — so I combined my passion for cycling and reading. The result: Ride for Reading.

Simply put: Ride for Reading provides a way for donated books to be delivered to low-income elementary schools BY BICYCLE. Local cyclists are recruited for the deliveries, and books are donated locally or provided by Better World Books through the Ride for Reading program.


Our Texas Mountain Trail non-profit got involved with a call from one of our best partners, El Pason Don Baumgardt, who operates a mountain biking website for Far West Texas, www.GeoBetty.com. Don asks, “We’ve got one of the best mountain biking photographers, Devon Balet, coming to El Paso with his crew, Team Ride for Reading. Would you like them to visit the Davis Mountains and Big Bend and help you with your promotion of the area? And, oh yeah, would you like to do this Ride for Reading book delivery?” A few clicks online and it was a no-brainer for us. Soon we had the elementary schools in Fort Davis and Terlingua onboard too.


We recruited volunteer cyclists to meet at a central location not far from the school. There we packed the donated books into backpacks and messenger bags by age level, and then we rode to the local elementary schools, where the kids were excited (and cheering!) to be able to pick out a book (or two) to take home as their very own.


Ride for Reading promotes healthy, safe, vibrant activity and reading. Each child receiving a book must pledge: “I promise to read my book twice. I will never ever throw my book away. I will pass it on to a friend, family member, neighbor, classmate or someone else I know. And I promise to be the best student for the rest of the year.”
Don Baumgardt, organizer of the El Paso delivery in January, “I think the riders got as much out of the day as the kids. We were all so gratified by the response we received at Hart Elementary. When we rounded the corner two blocks from the school on our bikes a roar went up from the students. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.”


U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke participated in the El Paso delivery and addressed the kids, "I always wanted to be a rock star, because I wanted to come into a stadium and hear the crowds cranked up...people cheering with pom poms and signs...and today when I rode my bike here, I finally felt like a rock star!" That's right, cyclists...Ride for Reading can make you feel like a rock star!”


Want to organize your own Ride for Reading delivery in your own town? Ride for Reading would LOVE to schedule more events during Ride for Reading Week, May 5-11. They’ve even received a commitment from Better World Books to provide books for every delivery scheduled that week, and they’re excited about expanding the program in Texas.


Founder, Matthew Portell: “I can honestly say one thing, the saying ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ is very true for the Ride for Reading deliveries we had in January! As the founder of Ride for Reading, it is truly amazing to watch such a little concept gain so much momentum. I dream that one day there will be a book delivery via bicycle in all fifty states, but it starts with the motivation of cyclists in every state."


We’re already talking to communities throughout our Texas Mountain Trail region of Far West Texas about adding events that week. As we learned and as our friend, Don Baumgardt reports, “the online resources from Ride for Reading made it very simple to organize the event.”
For information on setting up your own delivery for National Ride for Reading Week, May 5-11, visit the program’s website, www.rideforreading.org.


Ride for Reading deliveries are best if there are lots of community partners. Our partners for our January deliveries to Terlingua and Fort Davis include Friends of Jeff Davis County Library, Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce, Fort Davis ISD, Stone Village Tourist Camp, Davis Mountains State Park, Big Bend Resorts and Adventures, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Desert Sports (a great mountain biking outfitter), Terlingua CSD, Big Bend Chamber of Commerce, Brewster County Tourism Council, and our Texas Mountain Trail board of directors and volunteers, in addition to Team Ride for Reading, Ride for Reading, and Better World Books!

Terlingua's Ride for Reading Delivery

A happy student at Terlingua Elementary receives a
book through our delivery thanks to the folks at Ride for Reading!

We were most fortunate, as part of our efforts to share our region's tremendous cycling assets with travelers, to work with the WONDERFUL folks at Team Ride for Reading and schedule book deliveries to the Fort Davis and Terlingua elementary schools.  The book deliveries were part of a trip with photographer Devon Balet, who is producing a short video for us of our regional mountain biking opportunities.  Stay tuned for that!

But our Ride for Reading days were all about connecting kids with books, and reinforcing healthy active lifestyles and reading.  In fact, we are so excited about this connection, we're looking into scheduling more book deliveries during Ride For Reading Week, May 5-11.

Terlingua cyclists with backpacks full of books,
on the way to the elementary school for the delivery

Once we learned of the opportunity to organize book deliveries, all we had to do was ask....We contacted the schools and local cyclists to see if they'd participate in the program and we received hearty and enthusiastic responses, "YES!"

Our friends at Big Bend Resorts and Adventures (which
has its own mountain biking trail on property) was the meeting point
for the volunteer riders

Ride For Reading's mission is to promote literacy and healthy living through the distribution of books via bicycle to children from low-income neighborhoods. In low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children. *Reading is an integral part of education, and without books it is hard to build a strong academic base. Our children need materials to read at home and it is our goal to provide the means.

The pledge each child takes upon receiving a book:

"I promise to read my book twice.
I will never ever....
Ever, ever, ever....
Ever, ever
Throw my book away.
I will pass it on to a friend....
Family member....
Neighbor....
Classmate....
Or someone else I know.
And I promise....
To be the best student for the rest of the year"

L to R:  Marfa Public Radio's Kate Yoland, Team Ride for Reading's
Joshua Smith, Chris Reichel, Dejay Birtch, Devon Balet, and
Texas Mountain Trail Executive Director, Beth Nobles
Listen to the archive edition of the interview here.

What mattered to us was the enthusiasm the kids had for the
books, and for taking them home as their very own.

BIG big thanks to everyone who took part in the delivery days,
and everyone who supported this effort:  the riders, the Fort Davis ISD and
Terlingua CSD, Desert Sports, Friends of Jeff Davis County Library,
Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce, Visit Big Bend/Brewster County Tourism Council,
cycle-friendly Stone Village Tourist Camp, Big Bend Resorts and Adventures,
Davis Mountains State Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Ride for Reading,
Better World Books,
and the partners, volunteers and board of the Texas MountainTrail...y'all are GREAT!
Would you like to work with us on future Ride for Reading deliveries?
Leave a comment on this blog post!

Our Fort Davis Ride for Reading Volunteers!

Photo by Cyndee Barnes

This week, our Texas Mountain Trail coordinated two Ride for Reading book deliveries in the region--on Thursday to the elementary school in Fort Davis, and yesterday to the Terlingua elementary school.

More tomorrow!