Riding Toward Possibility: The Story of Silver Stallion

• Bikes as a Pathway to Opportunity: Silver Stallion uses bikes to teach job skills, build community, and inspire youth across the Navajo Nation and surrounding areas.

• From Recyclery to Movement: What began as a small community bike shop has evolved into a full-fledged youth development program with ride teams, mentorship, and events.

• Gallup, NM as a Launchpad: Located on the edge of the Navajo Nation, Gallup provides a critical intersection for access, support, and outdoor recreation in underserved communities.

• A Model for Growth: With national partnerships and local trust, Silver Stallion aims to expand its model to more Native reservation communities — proving that bikes can help rural areas thrive

We were able to chat with Silver Stallion founder Scott Nydam and learn more about Silver Stallion, our giveback partner for our Limited Edition Ginger Lime Endurance Fuel

What inspired you to found Silver Stallion back in 2018? What did the beginning of Silver Stallion look like?

The start of the Silver Stallion nonprofit has been the result of 28 years ago when I first came to the area as an undergrad at a liberal arts college in Western Michigan. After creating an affinity for the location, I set up a school social councilor internship after graduation toward an effort of applying to a masters program in social work. The weight of the work that year both pushed me away and has now brought me back again. ..

.. . So, the inspiration of starting Silver Stallion is based on the wanting to see all kids flourish.

Silver Stallion was set up as a small business “recyclery”  bike shop enterprise to include job skill training within the process of providing non-cost-prohibitive bike sales to the community. We quickly realized the absence of viable ridership in the region, especially the need for more youth development programming, and that’s what led us to nearby Durango Devo programming, and I guess Christopher. We needed a way toward creating more of a critical mass of ridership, individual pursuits, and a demand for bike repair and industry jobs.

We now have over 100 kids riding weekly alongside peers and coach mentorship. We have competitive race teams, Mobile Bike mechanic repair, and are now developing more grassroots ride and race events on the Reservation. 

Why Gallup, NM? 

Gallup Is one of the main 4 border towns of the Navajo nation that spans 27,000 mi.². Gallup is one of the places that plays a predominant role in providing livelihood resources to the reservation system that does not have the same sort of commercial opportunities.

Gallup is the sort of intersection that provides this sort of opportunity for outdoor recreational opportunities to be made available to reservation systems like on Navajo. 

At Tailwind, we believe in the power of the bike changing lives, do you have any stand-out stories of this happening within Silver Stallion? 

The overall stand-out story is that the bike has the same effect on all of us. The essential aspect to riding a bike is that it is that, yes, fun and exhilarating, but also that we all need to pedal our own bike. It’s the perfect instrument for creating learned-optimism, personal agency and efficacy.

Anything you’re looking forward to in the evolution of Silver Stallion?

We think that the Silver Stallion model and partnerships can scale. We have developed National industry nonprofit partnerships like Outride, FB4K, Project Bike Tech and IMBA along with local school and hospital partners to create a system that works. Locally is where the trust and possibility of the project exists, and with the kind of support we’ve assembled, there are hundreds of Native reservation communities that could have an opportunity within all this.

We hope to grow here in Gallup as a test piece and example that rural communities can also flourish on the bike. With the combination of health and wellness groups, industry support like Tailwind and athletes like Christopher, the sky is the limit and we can all benefit. 

cover photo by Shaun Price