Silver Stallion receives COVID-19 emergency funds for Mobile Ride Center on the Navajo Nation

Gallup, N.M. - The New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division (ORD), a division of the Economic Development Department (EDD), awarded Gallup-based non-profit Silver Stallion $10,000 to create a Mobile Ride Center to fix the bikes of youth in the Navajo Nation who have been struggling under the COVID-19 Health Emergency Orders, EDD Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced today.

The grant to Silver Stallion was made outside of the normal grant cycle as an emergency COVID-19 response to the urgent needs of the community.

The Mobile Ride Center will begin travelling throughout the Navajo Nation when it is safe to do so, based on the Governor's public health order.

The center will offer a mobile bike shop providing socially distanced bike repair and bringing bike development programming to youth 18 and younger.

"The Economic Development Department saw this opportunity and made this award quickly to help this bike repair business get started as soon as it is safe to do so," Cabinet Secretary Keyes said. "As far as we know there are no other bike repair opportunities like this in the Gallup area. The Mobile Ride Center will be providing a valuable service to get kids outside on safe and reliable bicycles."

“McKinley County was one of the hardest hit counties in our nation from the COVID-19 health emergency,” ORD Director Axie Navas said. “This grant from the state, plus the other investments from the Outride and Catena Foundations, will help Diné youth get back on their bikes for the transportation and recreational benefits they provide.”

The state funding for the Mobile Ride Center also helped bring in approximately $43,000 in out-of-state money to support the Diné mountain bike teams. Silver Stallion raised an additional $23,000 through public donations with a matching grant from the Outride Fund to support their youth bike development programs, and it is awaiting the final award amount from the recreation-focused Catena Foundation.

The Mobile Ride Center will be following the COVID-safe practice guidance from the governor, including social distancing, mask-wearing, and sanitizing. There will not be any youth development programs until the governor’s health orders say it is safe.

The team at Silver Stallion has close ties to the Hopi, Diné, and Gallup communities, having already set up middle and high school mountain bike teams in those areas. Their staff experience includes United Bicycle Institute Mechanic Certification, a professional mountain bike team mechanic, international bicycle racing, and team management experience.

Many opportunities that people in the U.S. take for granted do not readily exist for Native Reservation communities. Across the combined 29,500+ square miles of the Hopi and Diné (Navajo) land there isn’t a single bicycle shop. Residents must travel to towns as far as Gallup to find support. With the health emergency restrictions, such travel has become extremely difficult.

Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee Works, Inc., a 501c-3, seeks to offset these and other systemic challenges, made even more apparent by the COVID-19 emergency, that halt bicycle industry access and participation. Silver Stallion hopes to expand grass root youth development programming by providing a foundation of nationally-vetted successful programs throughout the region.

“This is absolutely a grassroots effort, but it also requires the support of heavy lifters like the [bicycle] industry and New Mexico State,” Scott Nydam, Executive Director of Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee Works said. “We are hugely grateful to Axie Navas and the Outdoor Equity Fund for responding to this effort!”

Nydam also serves as Gallup Composite Head Coach and Diné Composite Team Manager. He received the 2019 Quality Bike Products Community Impact Award with his efforts helping start Navajo Nation-based National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) programming.

If you are interested in more info or collaborating with this project, you can email info@bicyclecoffee.org

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.