With the start of Bike Month, it feels right to begin our very first Blog, and to kick off Exploring Paths while honoring our roots!
After a move to NYC and while mentoring with a program called New Alternatives for Children, our founder Katherine Elizabeth Long discovered just how few teens and youth knew how to cycle and how many had never been to prime destinations in NYC like Central Park.
It both baffled and saddened her that she, a West Texas Native, from a town on the Mexican border 3 hours from any major city could experience Central Park regularly while teens growing up in NYC amongst all of the destinations and opportunities were not. It wasn’t right, and she sought to change that.
In 2012 and into 2013 and with the help of other local ride and community leaders, friends, and colleagues, she created Exploring Paths, a cycling program that teaches youth and teens how to cycle and takes them out on bike rides to museums, parks, urban farms, nature preserves, etc. throughout the city. She partnered with the YMCA and Citi Bike and has continued to look forward.
After a successful seven years, Katherine sought to find ways to help the YMCA expand, and it all came back to her experience in technology and building out a platform that the Y and anyone could use to plan and schedule rides with their students. As COVID hit, the idea expanded even further to include destinations worldwide, especially those with virtual experiences and content. Why stop at destinations within NYC? Let's allow teens to explore and learn about the whole world, whether that was in-person or online, from anywhere, they might be.
Whether you participated in Exploring Paths, want to start your Exploring Paths cycling group, if you're a teacher looking for help, a family looking to do more together, or a teen looking to explore...
You can now share the experiences we created during our program by visiting www.exploringpaths.com or downloading our application from the app store!
We know you'll enjoy the destinations as much as our students did! Exploring Paths is always open to feedback and thoughts, so reach out and let us know. We want to create the best experience for you!