To all in the Global-Flat community:

Today I would like to let everyone know what I’ve been up to in the past couple of months.

I have embarked in a volunteer awareness outreach effort with the help of local businesses, nonprofit organizations, BMX Freestyler and the Austin flatland crew.
 
I have put together a presentation on bicycle safety and the importance of wearing helmets aimed at children and adolescents. My immediate goal with this is to help people have a safe and positive first experience to serve as a foundation for a lifelong love of cycling as an active lifestyle alternative.

Volunteering is my vehicle for meeting leaders of the community who can provide guidance and positive reinforcement for the avoidance of committing mistakes that can keep me from achieving my long term goals. In my opinion having leaders of the community as your contacts is an asset more valuable than money.

It is geared towards children but I talk to everybody.
I am taking a new approach to bicycle safety awareness and it’s called proper technique. With the use of bicycle trainers, I can turn any bicycle into a stationary bike that can be used for demonstrating/teaching proper cycling in traffic techniques.

For example:
The hand signals that tell motorists the intentions of the cyclist and the proper way to do a shoulder check (look behind for traffic) without turning the handlebars and accidentally swerving right in to traffic.

My presentation is in depth and comprehensive in the areas of cycling in traffic, rules of the road, protective gear, accessories, healthy living and general bike maintenance.

Did I mention Flatland??

I try to get the ATX crew involved but when an event like JOMOPRO comes about I have no problem doing the flatland trick demo by myself.

Children are very impressionable and if they see someone doing cool tricks with a helmet on it might just encourage them to wear a helmet and go out and try some tricks. Kids look up to people like us so I thought it was time to step up to the plate and work with that as a means to teach the sport of flatland to them.

I intend to use my bike safety presentation as way to reach out to people at an early age so they can also learn about the mental and fiscal benefits that flatland as a sport has to offer.
I firmly believe that flat is the purest form of cycling (you + Bike + isolated spot = Ideal environment for learning flat) and the more balance points you learn on the bike at an early age will serve as the foundation for anything else two wheels you might be interested in the future.

With that said, I intend to recruit as many new flatlanders as possible in an effort to prevent people from getting hurt trying to learn flat without proper instruction from a more experienced rider.
 
With the overflowing flatland talent that is concentrated in the ATX crew as a resource anybody willing to learn can show up at the garage and can get started just like I did.

I also encourage people to never put their brains to sleep when a roadblock presents itself in the form of something you can’t afford or in my case the police kicking me out of every single spot regardless of any wrong doing. If you can’t afford something don’t put your brain to sleep with excuses on why you couldn’t afford it. Instead think of it in terms of how can I afford it. This will encourage your thoughts to look for alternate ways instead of frustrating yourself with situations you can’t do anything about.
In my opinion placing that type of strain on your mind is one of the worst things you can do to your mind/self. Your thoughts are very important and you should be always aware of your thoughts and avoid at all cost getting into frustration, anger and bitterness over a situation you can’t do anything about.

This is my personal experience and an alternate route.
Instead of frustrating myself over getting kicked out of spots I have embarked in this awareness effort which puts me in a much better position to make a difference for myself and other people.

I am bettering myself by learning from leaders of the community / spreading the word on flatland and helping young ones to be safer while exploring all the benefits cycling has to offer as an active lifestyle alternative.

When the police tell me to leave, I express politeness and good manners while packing my equipment and leaving.
 
Now, if my bike were to be confiscated, I was issued a citation or even arrested/beaten; I believe I can represent myself in court as a bike safety advocate that encourages the use of helmets, a family man and a working professional. With a stack of recommendation letters from those leaders of the community, I feel I can make a good court case for discrimination and break ground for everyone involved in alternative sports that have ever been kicked out of their practice spot.

Now I wish to receive feedback from the leaders of the GF community. It is very important to me, due to the fact that global Flat forum has been a steady source of inspiration along with a reliable source for everything flatland.
 
I wish to Give special thanks BMXFREESTYLER’s very own Mark D. for his support and the following video. The ATX crew for coming out to my event and not telling me how insane they think I am. Also, thanks to all who donated or contributed in any way to this effort.

Take Care!
Julio