Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Cycling through life on a route filled with possibility is a big leap for youth living in neighborhoods near East Emmett Street.

Colin Sherfield saw this in his role as the Youth and Outreach Pastor with Battle Creek Community Church and its City Life ministry, which is located on East Emmett. He recognized the potential and opportunity to get kids on bicycles that are safe to ride and use this as a platform to educate and mentor them in a safe and welcoming space.

John GrapColin Sherfield, Youth and Outreach Pastor at the Battle Creek Community Church, talks to members of the Freehub Cycle Club.An avid bicyclist himself, he founded the Freehub Cycle Club, which just wrapped up its second annual program for neighborhood youth.

Lori Ingram says the program provided a boost in confidence and self-esteem for her son and daughter, who were among eight children who participated Monday to Friday in June.

John GrapStudents pose with their program graduation certificates."They’ve been bullied by kids in the neighborhood,” Ingram says.

She shared that a 12-year-old girl has repeatedly flipped her off. This has continued despite Ingram’s attempts to speak with the young girl’s father about it.

“We’ve had two different times when my son’s bike has been stolen. My kids can ride bikes and be wild. But, they’re good kids and that’s how they get picked out to be bullied,” she says.

While offering a summer block party series called Hot Summer Cooldowns that included food and activities for neighborhood residents, Sherfield says he noticed that kids would ride their bikes to these gatherings.

John GrapAvery Erskine gets help from Christina Swanset to properly wear a bicycle helmet.“Their bikes were at different places of disrepair, and that was a safety concern,” he says. “All I saw were bikes that needed to be fixed.”

He paid a visit to Open Roads in Kalamazoo to see how they were operating a program that inspired him to begin a similar program in Battle Creek.

John GrapFreehub Cycle Club students and their mentors take off on their ride.“We teach basic skills like how to replace tubes and tires, chains and cables, and how to do pedals and grips. We’re giving these kids exposure about how to diagnose and address common issues they may face with their bikes,” Sherfield says. “Some of these jobs require specialty tools, and we are a bike shop that has that. We’ve taken what Open Roads has done and condensed this into an area relying exclusively on volunteers.”

These volunteers are members of Battle Creek Community Church who do one-on-one mentoring with participants for the duration of the monthlong program, which begins with a dinner at 6 p.m. This is followed by a group session led by two licensed counselors with the church who focus on social-emotional learning from a biblical perspective.

John GrapFreehub Cycle Club students and their mentors get ready to ride.The program is capped at 10 participants to build the mentoring component. The most recent session had eight youth.

The social emotional learning piece is included so that youth have an opportunity to express themselves and find common ground with their mentors.

“The first evening, we ask them to write down on post-it notes what they have in common with their mentors. This is a way to create bonds,” Sherfield says. “The last hour of each session, we break them up to learn the bike mechanical skill for that day with their mentors. We incorporate games, relay races where they have to identify different bike tools, and a puzzle to complete.”

John GrapYouth who will be receiving bikes gather to learn how to use bicycle locks.The kids can choose a bike each to work on from a nearby bicycle stand. These bikes are donated by businesses and individuals, including Mike’s Team Active and Upcycle Bikes based in Grand Rapids.

In 2024, the year Freehub began, there were 22 bikes that had been donated by neighborhood residents and church members. That number has now grown to 80; the bikes are stored on the City Life property. About 100 bike lights were donated by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, and bike locks were donated through the Freehub organization.

“John GrapMany of the kids have their own bikes. They get a new-to-them bike through our program, which is the right size for them and in good usable condition,” Sherfield says. “For bikes that are too far gone, we salvage parts.”

A two-car garage on the City Life property at 552 East Emmett houses the bike repair program and a bike repair service where free repairs will be offered to anyone from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 26 on a first-come, first-served basis.

“John GrapMentor Denny Hunt and A.J. Bridges pose for a graduation photo.This is an opportunity for kids in our neighborhood to run a bike repair shop in our neighborhood,” Sherfield says.

Demand for the program continues to increase, and there are plans to offer another one soon. In the meantime, monthly bike repairs will be offered at the Freehub, and Sherfield is working towards creating a 501c3 for the organization.

Spinning their wheels no more

In a neighborhood where not a lot of good things happen, Ingram says, the bicycle repair program is a haven and fun for the kids in summer. She says camps are expensive and unattainable for kids whose families don’t have the money to send them.

John GrapYouth who will be receiving bikes gather to learn how to use bicycle lights.“This program is so awesome. It gives them something to focus on and gives them skills. My kids came home excited to have fixed something,” she says.

This was especially beneficial for her daughter, Mackenzie Erskine, who is 10 years old and “ever so softly” on the autism spectrum. Ingram says Mackenzie always has her guard up and is very reluctant to trust people. She says her participation in the Freehub program is the first big thing she’s committed to.

“She has opened up since being in the program,” Ingram says of her daughter. “She has a big guard up and does not trust people, and just senses things in people. She made friendships more so with the adults. She doesn’t trust other kids, so it’s hard for her to make friends.”

John GrapMackenzie Erskine listens to her mentor Debbie Kelley talk about her during the Freehub Cycle Club’s meeting.In a neighborhood where differences aren’t always appreciated, Freehub celebrates diversity and makes everyone feel comfortable and appreciated for who they are, Ingram says.

“The church and Freehub gave Mackenzie confidence. She’s walking around like she doesn’t care what people think.”

Ingram and her husband, who has cancer, aren’t religious, but they have encouraged their children, the youngest of whom is three years old, to make their own decisions. She says the biblical perspective offered during the program is something her oldest son, Avery, and Mackenzie will have to ponder.

“We believe in good people and bad people. For my kids, it’s their choice how they feel about God. If it gives them hope in life after getting whomped on, we’re fine with that.”

The mission of Freehub is to give the neighborhood opportunities to discover and experience freedom through the joy of cycling, Sherfield says.

“A bike is a metaphor for freedom. When you’re a kid, one of the first things you get is a bike, and you learn how to ride. It opens up the world, gives you access to opportunities, and exposes you to new people and places. A bike is a simple but perfect machine,” he says.

John GrapMackenzie Erskine and her mentor Debbie Kelley pose for a graduation photo.While Mackenzie attended all six sessions, a requirement to graduate, she was not so sure about riding her own bike in a ride after a graduation event on June 30, where the bikes are checked to make sure they’re in good working order and the youth are fitted for helmets.

What Ingram saw Sherfield do for her daughter brought her to tears.

“My daughter has gotten onto a bike a handful of times. The day after the kids graduated, they went on a five-and-a-half-mile ride around the community. The pastor had a double-seated bike, and my daughter was on the back seat while he peddled around town. I know that was hard for him. He made it happen for her. So much thought went into this program to make it happen for all these kids.”