St. Louis BWorks

The dog days of summer might be coming to an end! But the heat will continue ;) ☀️🚲

This week, more than 100 students joined us for Earn-A-Bike, Learn-To-Ride, and Earn-A-Computer classes. That’s a whole lot of learning, riding, wrenching, and fun packed into one hot week!

We also joined our friends at Mason Elementary and Clark Elementary for Wheels Nights, getting kids and families outside, on bikes, and connected with their community.

We spent a hot evening painting at our new home on South Grand.

We shuttled many amazing donations.

And last night, our BWorks alumni pedaled their hearts out on an adventure to the Forest Park Balloon Glow. There’s something pretty special about seeing young people making new memories on two wheels. 🎈🚲

Summer might be winding down. BWorks definitely isn’t.

🔥

It’s the 20th anniversary of Parking Day, where advocates repurpose a parking spot for a couple hours for mini-parks, reclaiming space for social good. Meanwhile the spaces we have for pedestrians and cyclists are reclaimed daily by bad parking jobs. Share your pic of a car blocking the sidewalk or bike path and tag to have a chance to win $100.

Like smiling youth? Working on bicycles? Or Teaching kids how to ride a bicycle? Bworks is looking to grow its staff as we continue to grow our programs and locations! Check out the two positions we just opened up at the linkl below.

https://www.bworks.org/blog/

This (short yet full) past week at BWorks...
✔ 15 class sessions at six different locations, including our headquarters, four schools and a library 🚸🚲🍎
✔ 1 fantastic workday at our soon-to-be new headquarters (four of whom returned to our current digs bright and early the next morning to help move bikes before the day's classes got underway!) 💪
✔ 1 rainbow and a gorgeous Thursday sunset to boot 🌈
✔ 11 dedicated BWorks teachers plus amazing bike and computer support teams and kind school teams helping to keep things rolling 💯
✔ 118 eager students in our Learn-To-Ride, Earn-A-Computer and Earn-A-Bike sessions across just four days 💙

For 10 City Garden Montessori School fourth graders, this September Tuesday involved pedaling on two wheels all by themselves for the very first time in their lives. We managed to pause five of them long enough for a quick thumbs up! 😎

The BWorks team's Tuesday also involved four other youth classes, including two in-school Earn-A-Bike Day 2 sessions focused on flat-tire fixings, plus a four-week Learn-To-Ride launch back at the shop in Soulard tonight ... *and* the kickoff of a six-week-long Earn-A-Computer cohort! :)

Let's do it again tomorrow?

Come visit us in Tower Grove Park today during TGFM's Harvest Festival! It's all about our littlest riders today, with our whole fleet of balance bikes and small kids' bikes plus helmets ready to roll. Say hello and take a spin on the course!

Some fun bikes hitting the sales floor today! Come check them out in person on Tuesday or Thursday 12-7pm!

Along with Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Bike kickoff assemblies and riding assessments at two more elementary schools during this back-to-school season, this week's activities included a workday at our new building, an onsite Learn-To-Ride graduation Tuesday evening in Soulard (we just posted more of those series for this fall at https://www.bworks.org/classes btw!), a bike rodeo Wednesday evening, tire practice and bike picking for Day 2 students on Thursday, and buzzing donation and refurbishment activities in both the computer and bike shops all week long. We also celebrated 10 brand-new Earn-A-Bike graduates in Ferguson, who wrapped up six weeks of class earlier this week with a graduation ride exploring the Ted Jones Trail and more! Big thanks to Great Rivers Greenway for sponsoring this particular cohort, which was also made possible by our late friend Gerry Noll, a longtime BWorks champion who passed away earlier this summer.

Happy Tuesday! We're excited to share another volunteer spotlight today, this one about longtime BWorks champion Steve Schmitz!

Steve began getting involved shortly after our 2011 move to Soulard. As a retired public school science teacher with 37 years of experience at Normandy High, Steve knew he wanted to continue doing work that had purpose and value after retirement. And with his background as a cyclist and outdoors enthusiast, BWorks felt like the perfect place to stay connected to his community while supporting a mission he believed in.

Read all about Steve's journey and contributions on our blog: https://www.bworks.org/blog/2026/08/24/longtime-volunteer-steve-schmitz-shares-his-bworks-journey-favorite-moments-and-biking-memories/