Eleven years ago, two simple words sparked a cycling revolution in Santa Cruz County: “Grab one.”

“I was having family issues, working issues… I was getting a divorce,” said Edgardo Muñoz, cofounder of the Nogales nonprofit 0S3 Movement, a youth-focused advocacy organization that promotes cycling education and healthy lifestyles. “I was looking for something to get me out of trouble.”

Muñoz, who was battling depression, tried running and other outdoor activities, but nothing was sticking. 

That is, until a friend invited him to San Diego. Muñoz was under the impression that he was there to throw a party, but his friend had something else in mind.

Instead, his friend pointed to a pair of bicycles and said, “Grab one.”

The pair rode their bikes along the beach and it didn’t take long until Muñoz found himself enjoying the ride, which became the inspiration for 0S3 Movement.

“That day changed me,” Muñoz said, “I decided I needed to share (cycling) with other people.”

He started with his family and friends, asking them if they’d go on a bicycle ride with him. At first, he’d offer to let them use his own bike or even buy them a new bike, but he knew he wanted to find a way to create a cycling community.

A few years later, Muñoz met Melissa Gallegos and they started using social media to find new riders. From there, it wasn't long before 0S3 Movement was born. 0S3 stands for "Cero estrés" or "Zero stress" in Spanish.

"Since we live on the border, it's a mix between English and Spanish," Gallegos said. "When you get on a bicycle, you forget all the stress of work, you forget all the payments you have to make, all the problems. You don't worry about anything at all."

Today, 0S3 offers 10 different bike programs, including one with ties back to its roots called, Adopt a Bike, which lets low-income families borrow a bike upon request. 

Many of 0S3’s programs are catered towards getting young people off the couch and on a bike, while also building social relationships and life skills along the way.

“I see it as development for them physically and mentally,” Muñoz said. “I think it’s very important for them…to be active.”

But 0S3 offers more than just recreational bicycling programs. It also has a competitive team made up of 18 kids and teens that participate in events around the country several times a year. This weekend, the group’s Reptilians Youth Cycling Team will travel to Winchester, Virginia for an event.

In July, 0S3 hit a big milestone when it opened a youth center on North Morley Avenue in Nogales’ historic downtown. The center is a part of Morley Arts District, which runs along the U.S.-Mexico border and acts as a cultural meeting ground for artists and innovators from both sides of the border. 

“That’s also the idea of 0S3,” Muñoz said during Tucson Spotlight’s recent visit to the center. “Not just cycling or promoting outdoor activity, but also getting involved in our community.”  

0S3 is part of a larger rehabilitation movement to revitalize the historic downtown. Muñoz said that when building the center, he was mindful ofthe historic integrity of the building. With the help of a team made up entirely of volunteers, the youth center was remodeled from the ground up, while preserving the original flooring and walls.  

The center was opened to give young people an indoor space to engage in meaningful activities, gain practical skills, stay physically active during hotter months and access educational support.

And as added inspiration, that bike that Muñoz rode along the beach all those years ago and inspired his journey to 0S3 is now prominently displayed on the walls of the center. 

Muñoz said he and others with 0S3 try to set an atmosphere of organic friendship from the moment children and their families walk through the doors of the center.

“I always say it’s for them and their families,” said Muñoz.

0S3 recently received a $20,000 grant from the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, which Muñoz said will help 0S3 increase the hours the youth center is open and add to its programs and opportunities..

“I think we click with that organization,” Muñoz said. “I think (they) also gave it to us because they are seeing our success and want to be part of it.” 

McKenna Manzo is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at mckennamanzo@arizona.edu.