Schools, nonprofit give Navajo youth bicycles and a time and place to ride
Arlyssa D. Becenti
Arizona RepublicDec. 14, 2025, 5:01 a.m. MTLiving near the Chuska Mountains and surrounded by the wide-open expanses of the Tohatchi community has its perks for students like Tohatchi middle schooler Delaney Henry.
On a recent chilly Tuesday afternoon, Henry and the rest of the school's bicycle club hurried after classes to get to their bikes and enjoy one last ride before the club ends for the season. The club had as many as 30 kids participating, but that number dwindles as some students start sports. The bike club recently expanded from serving only the middle school to now including the elementary school; soon the high school will be part of it.
"I really enjoy riding bikes," said Henry. "I've been doing this since sixth grade. I like how everyone gets exercise and everyone has fun doing it."Tohatchi Middle School Principal Lucinda Bitsoi and the sponsor of the bike club, Bernadette Shirley, said the club has been around for five years, and they're happy to see it expand into high school and elementary.
Although it may offer a fun time for students, Bitsoi said the bike club plays a bigger role in the students' lives as a positive mental outlet. It also allows them to get out of any negative spaces they could be experiencing in their daily lives.
"It was something that could get our kids involved mentally, emotionally, physically outdoors," said Bitsoi. "Just getting them outside gets them away from technology, their phones, because that's the world they're in right now. We have kids here who have backgrounds that are not, just thinking about some of the kids that we have... I think it gets them out and away from those kind of things."
The connection between bikes and healthy outlooks
As a special education teacher's assistant and volleyball coach, Shirley, who spent 12 years as a police officer, said getting involved and helping her community is a passion for her. This is her second year as a sponsor for the bike club, and both she and Bitsoi said as long as they're both at the school there will always be a club.
"If you catch them while they're younger, you have a better, positive outcome of them not being in the legal system when they get older," said Shirley.Henry said it's not only for fun that she takes part in the club. A major reason she enjoys it and has been participating for the past two years is that it helps take her mind off "things."
Shirley also shared several letters from students thanking the district’s superintendent for the bike club. In those letters, many described experiences similar to Henry’s, enjoying the chance to get outside and be active, spend time with friends and find relief from the stresses they face.
Plenty of articles and studies support the link between biking and a healthier outlook for kids. The benefits commonly cited include reduced stress, improved social skills and stronger emotional well-being. Mastering balance, pedaling and steering gives children a sense of accomplishment that boosts their self-esteem.
"I love to feel the wind, even if it’s a little scary," wrote one Tohatchi sixth grade student in one of the letters Shirley held.
"Biking helps me regulate my emotions better and it lets me have fun. I never thought I would enjoy physical activity but biking helped me realize it's fun.”How Silver Stallion Bicycle helps the club
The Gallup McKinley School District purchased the bikes used for the club, but getting the bikes is only part of the equation. The program also needs knowledgeable, enthusiastic riders to mentor and ride with the kids, and that’s where Silver Stallion comes in, the nonprofit that originally launched the DEVO/Club Rides program with Gallup McKinley County Schools. DEVO, short for “development,” is an after-school club that serves more than 150 students across about nine schools on the Navajo Nation.
"They bought over 200 bikes and helmets and now we just travel with our coaches to Gallup, an average of 45 minutes one way, to each of the schools during the school week for 10 to 12 weeks each semester," said Scott Nydam, founder and resident of Silver Stallion Bicycle and Coffee Works. "The number of rides we've been on is nearly 180 last year, that's almost like every other day, throughout one of the broadest geographical locations."
Nydam, a retired professional cyclist, coach and California native, moved to the area after his wife accepted a midwifery position on the Navajo Nation. Before relocating to Gallup, he and his wife lived in Rwanda, where he worked with the cycling team. Before that, he coached a California cycling team — the same team he had once raced for.
It has been a journey for both Nydam and Silver Stallion to become a meaningful resource for the community and the Navajo Nation. When the pandemic hit, Nydam said they had the opportunity to apply to be the first recipient of New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund grant. Receiving that funding allowed Silver Stallion to launch its mobile ride center, a van that traveled across the Navajo Nation offering free bike repairs.
"All of these bikes started coming out of the woodwork," said Nydam. "Over the course of a year, we did over 1,000 bike repairs. That was half of 2020 into 2021."
During the pandemic, social workers from Gallup McKinley County Schools approached the team and asked how they could help get kids outside again — on bikes and at a safe social distance — so they wouldn’t remain isolated. This request led to the development of new youth programs, an approach heavily influenced by Durango DEVO, which Nydam described as “the most prolific, successful youth development cycling program in the country.”
There’s a strong sense of confidence in their work because of their partnerships with the schools, Nydam said, especially with mental-health specialists and caregivers. He credited the programs they collaborate with, including Indian Health Service, the Office of Diné Youth and the Special Diabetes Project, and said the goal is to provide what’s needed so biking becomes a real option for kids. Not the only option, he said, but a genuine choice rather than something that feels out of reach from the start.
Nydam said they bring the emotional and intellectual support, and make sure the material needs, like bikes and helmets, are covered.
"We tapped into the trust and relationship ... we would just have to show up in a parking lot and the kids would come out and start riding," said Nydam.
"Now we have nine bike clubs programs going. We are trying to build a healthy thriving eco system around the bike."Community is key to the club's success
When it comes to community partnerships, Silver Stallion has a program director whose deep connection to Tohatchi is essential to the bike club’s success. Tanisha Bitsoi, a director at Silver Stallion Bicycle and Coffee Works, is also Tohatchi High School’s acclaimed girls’ basketball coach, having led the team to multiple state championships. With her connection and relationship with Gallup McKinley Schools, Bitsoi was able to help Nydam establish the bike club within the school.
"You know, you get school bikes and if you don't have a person who's knowledgeable in mechanics, you have no clue what to do," said Bitsoi, who said she had to learn how to build her own bike and maintain it. This type of mechanical know-how and upkeep of a bike is what she initially helped schools with by having the mechanics and resources at the ready to assist, and this is what is needed in order to keep the club to thrive.
Bitsoi said she was eager to get the kids racing and took the initiative to help them compete. Silver Stallion had previously launched two regional middle and high school teams with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association in 2018.
"A majority of these kids come from challenging backgrounds," said Bitsoi. "And this is something that they look forward to. It's unfortunate, we can only do it once a week. Right now we're thin, so we're pulled in every direction to try to meet the demands of all the schools. I know what a lot of these kids are maybe experiencing...you know, myself growing up on Navajo and then being in the school system. So I really look at it as bringing confidence. It helps with their overall mental well being. It makes them feel worthy that they can do something outside of school if they're not involved in sports."
Last year, Tohatchi hosted the first Gallup McKinley County Schools Bike Rally, bringing together all middle schools in the district to compete. Beyond supporting after-school bike clubs, Silver Stallion operates several other programs. These include their Mobile Ride Center, which provides free bike repairs, and the 14 Outride R4F programs, which are P.E. initiatives where teachers receive training and establish cycling programs in Navajo communities such as Pinon, Indian Wells, Rough Rock, Lukachukai, Low Mountain, Black Mesa, Ramah and Gallup.
Other programs supported by Silver Stallion include 5 PBT (Project Bike Tech) high school mechanic programs, where high school students learn bike maintenance. They’ve also partnered with Free Bikes 4 Kidz, with New Mexico providing over 250 free bikes to regional youth and adult program participants. Additionally, Silver Stallion co-founded the New Mexico Interscholastic Cycling League and opened the first bike shop on the Navajo Nation in Chinle, where mechanics travel every Friday to provide services.
This past fall, Silver Stallion provided free repairs for 421 bikes across the communities of Crownpoint, Fort Defiance, Chinle, Many Farms, Nazlini and Rockpoint, employing up to six local mechanics at each event.
Silver Stallion is trying to raise over $38,000 with some target goals, and so far has raised a little over $1,400, according to its donation website.
These are just a few of the goals:
● $2,080 supports one Park Tool School bike maintenance and repair instruction series at their shop to train youth, coaches, and community leaders
● $4,750 supports one Navajo Nation after-school bike club for a year
● $1,125 supports one public free bike repair event with six or more mechanics on Navajo
● $425 covers registration for one XC or Enduro Race Team participation per year
"There are so many missions, small components to going from starting to flourishing that it's more than any one organization's mission statement," said Nydam. "It takes a conglomeration, a cohort, and that's what we've been trying to build. There's been about $2 million of material investment on Navajo of program, whether it be education, mechanic or it be ridership, school program or teams. Over $2 million over the course of time since we started, not by us, not through us, but through partnerships that have come through onto Navajo."
Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com, and connect with her on Bluesky, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter).
