In Arizona’s Verde Valley, PeopleForBikes and other partners are coming together to create a community hub for mountain biking.

Roughly 100 miles north of Phoenix, in the geographic center of Arizona, the Verde River flows from north to south, carving through a stretch of land defined by red rocks, scenic mountain vistas and dense Ponderosa Pine forests. Known as the Verde Valley, this 714-square-mile area encompasses the towns of Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Camp Verde, Jerome and, most well known, Sedona. It’s here that a 2021 PeopleForBikes grant recipient, Verde Valley Wheel Fun, is building a mountain bike skills park. 

Although Sedona is generally known as a wealthy retiree community with a New Age vibe, the rest of the Verde Valley isn’t all art galleries and five-star spas. As is often the case with centers of wealth, many local residents work in the service industry or trades, raising kids on low-wage jobs. In fact, roughly half of the children attending school in the Verde Valley are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal plan that provides low-cost or free lunches to students. Where the bike skills park is being built, at the Oak Creek Elementary School in the unincorporated town of Cornville, the landscape is more rural and tourists are a rarer sight.

Sedona and the surrounding area is famous for mountain and road biking, a year-round destination for people drawn to two-wheel fun on red dirt and long stretches of pavement flanked by incredible views. Most of the area’s trails are the result of Forest Service and community efforts including the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition, an organization comprised of both road and mountain bikers that’s worked to improve the region’s bicycling environment since 1992. In 2017, the nonprofit began to focus on giving back to the local community beyond trail building and maintenance, launching a series of after-school mountain bike clubs. By 2019, it became its own entity, Verde Valley Wheel Fun (FUN).

“We just started growing faster than we could imagine,” said Kevin Adams, co-founder and treasurer at FUN. “This fall, we’ll start our thirteenth after-school club at 13 different schools here. We keep adding schools based on how fast we can raise money and get bikes.”

With the current programming in place, there will be some 130 kids participating in after-school mountain bike clubs throughout the Verde Valley, coached by 33 trained volunteers. As Adams sees it, one of the benefits of the clubs is that they get young people off their electronic devices and active outside. Since participating in the after-school clubs is a privilege, not a right, youth are also motivated to keep their grades up. Reports from the schools indicate that kids in the yearlong program either maintain or improve their reading levels and math scores. The bike clubs aren’t just for boys, either, with about 40% of participants identifying as female (as well as half of the coaches).

Alongside the $7,500 in funding received from PeopleForBikes, the Trek Foundation committed $60,000 to fund the Oak Creek School Mountain Bike Skills Park. Additional donations from the Catena Foundation, the Mountain Bike Association of Arizona, Arizona Community Foundation of Yavapai County, Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona and private individuals led to a total of more than $140,000 in funding. The bike park will break ground on January 3, 2022 — the best time to build in the desert — and will take six weeks to complete. A youth-led project to build a fitness course will be located adjacent to the park and is set to be completed this September.

Last year, FUN secured a $15,000 grant from the Outride Fund — the matching community grant program offered by the youth bicycling organization Outride — to build a mountain bike skills park at Mountain View Preparatory, a public K-8 school in Cottonwood. That bike park, which opened in April 2021, serves as a proof of concept for the new project and is part of what’s making the region a true bicycling ecosystem. Outride, a PeopleForBikes partner, believes investing in bicycling communities not only creates a more equitable, accessible and diverse bike industry but also leads to improved health outcomes among youth. 

“So often, bike trails are inaccessible to kids whose parents aren’t cyclists,” said Andy Cunningham, who manages the Outride Fund. “One of the things that’s great about Verde Valley Wheel Fun is that they’re building bike parks adjacent to schools, where kids are actually living. That way, kids don’t need a parent to ride and can go there with their friends.”

Complementing FUN’s after-school programs is Outride’s Riding for Focus program, a middle school bike curriculum designed to be implemented as part of a typical physical education class. Once FUN completed its first skills park, it reached out to the principal of another nearby middle school in the district, the Cottonwood Community School, to see if they’d be interested in applying for a Riding for Focus grant. Cottonwood Community is located downtown in a part of the city that has 85% participation in the National School Lunch Program and a student population that’s about 58% Hispanic. For the school, applying for the program was a no-brainer.

“The outcome of that is going to be a fleet of bikes in the middle school plus a trained P.E. teacher, so those kids are going to learn how to ride safely,” said Cunningham. “Once they have that basic level of confidence, they can actually walk over and ride on the new bike park that’s down the road. It's pretty awesome.”

Outride’s own research has shown that beyond the many physical benefits of riding, biking is a great way for kids to build social connections and community. Youths who regularly engage in physical activity report less depression and anxiety symptoms, have higher self-esteem and also perform better academically than kids who are inactive. Through the Riding for Focus program, kids become excited about P.E. and many gain access to a bike for the first time.

Long term, Outride wants access to bikes and bike programs to be as ubiquitous as our public libraries, ever-present even in America’s smallest towns. That means helping to grow bicycling communities through Riding for Focus and new bike parks, as well as educational initiatives, earn-a-bike programs and even bicycle cooperatives. In the nearby Four Corners region, which encompasses parts of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and the Diné (Navajo) nation, Outride is working with community partners like Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee, a mobile bike shop, and Project Bike Tech to build a bicycling ecosystem. There, like in the Verde Valley and other rural communities, bikes play a crucial role when it comes to connecting people and improving both mental and physical health outcomes for children. 

“In a lot of these small, rural, isolated towns, there’s often not a lot kids can do — especially in the last year, when indoor spaces were shut down,” said Cunningham. “For these kids that can safely ride in a bike park? There must be such a sense of joy and freedom. That’s a pretty cool gift we can bring that hopefully doesn't benefit just children, but families and the whole community too.”

We recently awarded $50,000 to eight projects across eight states through our spring Industry Community Grants Program. 

PeopleForBikes, a national bicycling advocacy and industry trade organization dedicated to putting more people on bikes more often and making biking better for everyone, announced its latest round of community grants. After a short hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest grant round for spring 2021 totals $50,000 and includes eight projects across eight states. 

PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grants Program is funded through the Employee Pro Purchase program, which collects donations from individuals who work in the bike industry and take advantage of pro-pricing discounts on new bikes and bicycling equipment. Batch, Cannondale, Giant, Niner, Shimano, Trek and Vaast currently participate. Since 1999, the PeopleForBikes Industry Community Grants Program has funded more than 400 projects in all 50 states totaling more than $3.6 million in direct funds and leveraged more than $775 million. The total funding this year represents more than 2,500 individuals in the bike industry who gave back to grow bicycling through an employee pro purchase. 

“Our industry has a long history of giving back and investing in important bike projects across the country,” said Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. “We thank the seven companies and thousands of employees that contribute to this important program and are excited for the newest group of inspiring projects that will improve communities through bicycling and leverage even more investment.” 

Recycled Tires as Bike Lane Barriers - Broad Ave. Demonstration Project | $10,000
Memphis, TN 

The Binghampton Development Corporation (BDC), in partnership with the City of Memphis, will use this grant to pilot a 1.2-mile demonstration project using upcycled car tires as bike lane barriers. If successful, the BDC will help launch an employee-owned business to produce the barriers as part of its new Business Hub. 

Families Come Together to Play | $8,000 
Porcupine, SD 

PeopleForBikes’ grant will fund a bike repair station and bike racks for the community center and multigenerational playground on the Pine Ridge Reservation. This project is part of a larger development led by the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation to provide community and recreational spaces for the Lakota people. 

Oak Creek School Mountain Bike Skills Park | $7,500 
Cornville, AZ 

Verde Valley Wheel Fun will use PeopleForBikes’ funding to build a mountain bike skills park on school property to serve the rural school population. A youth-led project to build a fitness course will be located adjacent, providing opportunities and motivation to get students outside and active. 

Mott Park Bicycle Garden | $6,600 
Flint, MI 

An unused tennis court in this urban neighborhood park will become a new traffic garden where local youth can learn bike skills. Spearheaded by the Mott Park Neighborhood Association in collaboration with the Flint Public Art Project, this facility will resemble and reflect the streets surrounding it. 

OSPREYS Bike Rack and Bike Repair Station | $5,000 
Ocean Springs, MS 

Ocean Springs Pedestrians and Residents for Exercise and Youth Safety (OSPREYS) has been working diligently to make its community safer and more appealing for people walking and biking. This funding, matched by a contribution from the city, will be used to purchase and install eight bike racks and two bike repair stations near popular destinations. 

Ben's Bike Playground | $5,000 
Chugiak, AK 

PeopleForBikes’ grant will support the construction of the first pump track in the Anchorage area. The facility will prioritize beginner-level features to attract kids and families and is named for a founding member and beloved coach who passed away in a car crash last winter. 

MKE Modular Parklet | $4,900 
Milwaukee, WI 

The Wisconsin Bicycle Federation will use this grant to build a demonstration parklet including seating, flex space/stage area, bike parking and a small pump track. The parklet will travel to several locations, hosted by business improvement districts throughout the City of Milwaukee, before being awarded to one permanent home. 

Enabling Active Transportation for Low-Income People of All Ages and Abilities | $3,000 
Austin, TX 

Working in partnership with local nonprofits and low-income/affordable housing sites, Ghisallo Cycling Initiative will provide bikes, locks and helmets to residents and use this funding to build and install two bike parking corrals where residents can secure their new bikes. 

Do you work in the bike industry and are interested in supporting PeopleForBikes and our Industry Community Grants Program? Contact PeopleForBikes Director of Membership and Industry Engagement Rod Judd (rod@peopleforbikes.org) to enroll your company in the Employee Pro Purchase program. The more companies we have participate, the more funding we have to support amazing local projects that get more people on bikes.

Introducing Our Spring 2021 Community Grants Recipients 

On July 28, tune in for evidence-based ways to advance youth and community well-being through bicycling. While the event is totally free, registration is required.

After students in her class began riding bikes more frequently, Lacey Munden saw a noticeable improvement in their confidence and mental health. Munden, a classroom teacher at RL Clemitson School, was impressed, attributing the change to Riding For Focus, Outride’s middle school bicycle education program. “The increase in confidence I have seen on and off the bike has been shocking,” said Munden. 

To date, Riding For Focus has been established in 200 schools throughout 44 U.S. states and Canada. The program provides schools with everything they need to get their 6th-8th grade students riding, including bikes, helmets, curriculum and intensive teacher training. Students participating in the program consistently self-report stronger peer relationships and better focus at school. 

Outride’s 2021 Research Summit, "Advancing Youth and Community Well-Being through Cycling,” will showcase similar findings from the Riding For Focus program, as well as more general bicycling research from organizations around the world. The conference will take place on July 28, 2021, and although it’s completely free and open to the public, registration is required. From 11:30 am - 7:30 pm EST, Outride’s own research team and others will highlight the impact of bicycling on health, equity, happiness and community well-being, with a specific focus on youth. 

“The summit will be a space where people doing the work to strengthen their communities through cycling can learn from each other and put that research into practice,” said Esther Walker, Outride’s research program manager. “Our bigger goal is to create a space for sharing and empower people to make an impact locally,” 

Each summit presentation will feature actionable research insights so that attendees will come away with applicable, relevant lessons for their communities. Attendees can expect virtual presentations covering a wide range of topics from the impact of bicycling on cognitive function and mental health, to presentations on women’s empowerment through bikes and gendered barriers to bicycling. The research summit's full agenda can be previewed here. 

PeopleForBikes’ team member Rebecca Davies, a product manager and data analyst, will highlight the PeopleForBikes’ Bicycle Network Analysis tool and its potential to measure how accessible school locations are by bike. We’ll also hear directly from youth about how bicycling impacts their lives and communities, including representatives of the National Youth Bike Council, a group of teenagers organizing young leaders in bicycling communities around the country. 

As a leading national youth bicycling organization, Outride is working to get more kids on bikes and build more diverse, equitable and healthy cycling communities in partnership with schools, communities and researchers around the country. We’re proud to partner with Outride and hope you’ll join us at the 2021 Research Summit.

Click here to learn more about the 2021 Outride Research Summit and register to attend.

The Arizona-based mountain bike company partnered with a local nonprofit to refurbish bikes for families in need.

In the summer of 2019, Daniel Limburg, a planning and product manager at Pivot Cycles, got lunch with Michael Sullivan, agency director at the Welcome to America Project (WTAP), a nonprofit that helps resettled refugees make a life in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. As Sullivan described his work at WTAP, Limburg’s interest was piqued. It was when Sullivan mentioned the nonprofit’s newly launched bike nights, however, where volunteers refurbished donated bikes for refugees, that Limburg saw an opportunity to get involved. 

Founded in 2001, WTAP was the natural outgrowth of one couple’s desire to help a newly resettled refugee family from Afghanistan. A refugee, as opposed to a voluntary immigrant, refers to a person who has been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution or natural disaster. Phoenix consistently ranks among the top 10 cities for refugee resettlement in the U.S., and what started with one family soon blossomed into the 501(c)(3) nonprofit WTAP is today.

For the 2021 fiscal year, the Biden Administration has set a refugee cap at 62,500 people. Once refugees are accepted into the U.S. and placed in a new city, they have just 90 days to assimilate and find a job (they're given six months to pay the U.S. government back for airfare costs). Although refugees are provided housing, many show up with nothing more than a suitcase and a rudimentary grasp of the English language. 

“Imagine if you landed in Tanzania and had six months to figure out housing, food and work,” said Sullivan, who served as a WTAP volunteer for more than a decade before coming on as director. “Our goal is to turn fear into hope — and it goes both ways.”

Volunteers with WTAP form a welcoming committee, greeting new arrivals and working to make sure they feel accepted in what can be a hostile environment. By providing used and new donated items — everything from furniture to computers to clothing — the organization helps refugees set up their apartments and find work. Recognizing that transportation is a key factor when it comes to accessing essential services, WTAP also provides donated bicycles. For many refugees, a bike might be their only way of getting to an English class or a job, especially during undesirable shift times when transit is less frequent.

“I realized I could make a difference by repairing and helping people get on bikes,” said Limburg (pictured above), who first attended one of the nonprofit’s bike nights in August 2019. “When I first decided to volunteer, I shot out a quick office email asking if anyone wanted to join me.”

The first night, three Pivot coworkers helped alongside Limburg. In September, a few more attended until eventually, there was a rotating crew of Pivot employees showing up every month. The group would get dinner beforehand at Boulders, a bike-friendly bar and restaurant, before setting out to work for a couple of hours repairing and tuning up bikes at the WTAP warehouse. The bikes are primarily sourced by Shelley Brown, who runs Phantom Cyclist, an organization she started with her husband, a National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) coach and son, a NICA rider. Brown was independently sourcing and fixing up bikes for refugees when she partnered with WTAP in 2018.

By the time Limburg and the Pivot community entered the scene, the bike operation was relatively well established, with Phantom Cyclist and WTAP providing refurbished bikes to families most weekends. Still, the Pivot employees brought a new level of expertise, training volunteers on basic bike mechanic skills, as well as tools and bike stands, which helped accommodate a greater volume of bikes. When Limburg realized Phantom Cyclist was buying bike parts at Walmart, he tapped his network and secured the organization a KHS dealer account and wholesale prices from Biketube, as well as donated cables, housing and brake pads from Shimano, bike components from SDG and tools and cleaning product from Pedros.

“Pivot’s been a true miracle force,” said Sullivan. “They’ve given us a continuity that we didn't have before.”

When the pandemic happened, many refugees were among the hardest hit, often the first to lose their jobs and become isolated. Although WTAP was still delivering bikes, there were few options for volunteers to gather safely and the repair nights came to a halt. By May, when it was clear COVID-19 precautions wouldn’t be lifted, Limburg offered to pick up bikes and repair them at Pivot headquarters. Roughly every other week, upwards of 12 people would get together after hours to work on bikes. Even Chris Cocalis, president and CEO of Pivot Cycles, got involved. 

“My favorite thing about being in the bike industry is giving people a new perspective of how bikes can help,” said Limburg. “Bikes are something that can truly save people, allowing them to find jobs, learn the language and assimilate into society.”

Bikes are currently being repaired roughly twice a month at both the WTAP and Pivot warehouses. Looking to the future, Pivot is working with WTAP to launch skills instruction programming for refugee children and repair workshops for adults. To date, WTAP estimates that it’s been able to get upwards of 500 bikes into the hands of refugees. Since one bike is often shared by multiple people in a family, the ripple effect is much greater. 

Limburg and Sullivan both note the story of a Syrian family, refugees of a war who were shell shocked and suffering from PTSD. Hoping to encourage the family to get outside, WTAP delivered a bike and the family’s young son Aziz, who didn’t speak English, began pleading with his dad to learn how to ride. A few of the volunteers, including Sullivan, took the boy outside and taught him the basics.

“I forgot you had to run alongside a bike rack,” said Sullivan. “At 60 years old, I'm not used to doing that, but the kid learned to ride.”

Five months later, the volunteers were back at a neighboring apartment complex when they heard someone yelling at them. Aziz pulled up, alongside a whole crew of new friends on bikes, and started speaking in perfect English—that day, he even helped serve as a translator for a different Syrian family that had just arrived. Learning to ride and having access to a bicycle allowed Aziz to learn English, make friends, explore the community and start dreaming big.

“The trajectory started to change when that bike got into his hands,” said Sullivan. “It’s not just a bike, it's freedom for the newly free.”

Pivot Cycles Is Welcoming Refugees to America

The 12 projects utilize everything from community art to electric bikes and span the country from New York to Hawaii.

The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) awarded $89,970 in mini-grants to 12 projects that will reach and engage traditionally underserved populations through shared micromobility. This is the sixth round of grant funding that PeopleForBikes will administer through its partner role with BBSP. 

“Better Bike Share mini-grants allow us to support and share lessons from small, innovative projects," said Zoe Kircos, director of grants and partnerships at PeopleForBikes and manager of BBSP. "We look forward to learning from these grantees and seeing how their strategies help more people access bike share systems.”

The following projects were selected to receive funding: 

Reddy E-Bike Library Ambassadors | $10,000
Shared Mobility Inc./Reddy Bikeshare, Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY

Reddy Bikeshare, in partnership with Independent Health, will join with East Side Bike Club and the Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative to use this funding to hire, train and support four community ambassadors to help underserved residents access electric bicycles through a new bike library program.

Bike-N-Ride: Linking Bike Sharing With Transit Through Art Tours That Highlight Community Narratives | $10,000
City of Fort Lauderdale – Transportation and Mobility, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The City of Fort Lauderdale will partner with local community-based organizations to host three bike tours featuring storytelling and art. The rides will coincide with and end at a local monthly art walk event.

Savvy Cycling | $10,000
Midwest Bikeshare, Inc./Bublr Bikeshare, Milwaukee, WI

As Bublr expands into historically marginalized neighborhoods with 26 new stations, system ambassadors from those communities will offer urban bike skills classes, free helmets and a complimentary 30-day pass to local residents.

North Tulsa Expansion/African American Community Outreach | $10,000
Tulsa Bike Share/This Machine, Tulsa, OK

Five new This Machine stations will be installed in North Tulsa, a historically Black neighborhood. The expansion will be matched with promotions, events and other activities offered in partnership with community-based organizations located in the area.

People for Mobility Justice ElectroBicis in Pacoima  | $10,000
Community Partners, Los Angeles, CA

People for Mobility Justice will work with Pacoima Beautiful to make 100 electric bikes available for long-term rental to residents as part of a pilot in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. PeopleForBikes’ grant will fund classes on safe bicycling and bike maintenance, along with safety equipment such as helmets and lights.

Justice on Wheels 2021 | $8,600
Family Matters, Chicago, IL

Practice rides and events, geared towards helping residents build endurance and community, will culminate in a 15-mile intergenerational ride through the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Speakers at stops on the route will explore themes of transformative justice and transportation equity, with a celebration at the end. 

Biki Ambassador Project | $7,770
Bikeshare Hawaii, Honolulu, HI

Biki will focus on outreach to Native Hawaiians and other underserved communities with the launch of a new Ambassador program. In partnership with a local organization, the bike share system will recruit, hire and train 10 people from the community to promote bike share and provide feedback.

The Way We Move: Making Biking Accessible for All in Raleigh | $6,500
Oaks and Spokes, Raleigh, NC

Reaching and engaging older adults in underserved communities is the focus of the events and activities in this new program. AARP and senior living facilities will serve as partners and an intern will be hired from a local HBCU.

Roll to Recovery | $6,000
OneFifteen, Dayton, OH

Through a partnership with Bike Miami Valley, OneFifteen, an addiction recovery campus, will support the mental and physical health of patients and staff by helping them ride. In addition to placing a bike share station on the facility’s campus, the nonprofit will offer helmets and annual passes to those who complete a free cycling safety class.

Allen County Micromobility Education Program | $5,000
Thrive Allen County, Allen County, KS

With this funding, Allen County’s free bike share system will hire a local ambassador to offer free bike repair workshops to residents countywide, addressing a common barrier to increased bicycling.

Segundo Barrio Mural Bikes | $4,300
Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, El Paso, TX

Local artists will paint seven bike share bikes inspired by the murals located in the historically significant Segundo Barrio, introducing more people to the artwork and bike share. Once completed, the painted bikes will be part of a bike share demo and gallery event in the featured neighborhood.

Share Boxes for Bike Share Racks | $1,800
Green Apple Bikes, Inc., Manhattan, KS

This completely free, volunteer-driven bike share system will add share boxes to stations in select locations, offering donated items including bicycling safety gear with funding from this grant.

Better Bike Share Partnership Awards $89,970 in Grants

We spoke with retailers across the country to learn about various initiatives that are boosting business and building community.

Around the country, for-profit and nonprofit bike shops are stepping up to get more kids on bikes. We spoke directly with local retailers to learn about the different ways they’re engaging youth, from offering discounts on gear to hosting youth-focused bicycling workshops and events. Though the specifics on programming and reach vary, all of these shops are committed to building community for the next generation around bikes.  

Supporting youth cycling is an investment in the future of biking

For Brian Pierce, service manager at University Bicycles in Boulder, Colorado, championing youth programs is an investment in the future. “We feel it is important to expose young people to bicycling as a sport, a means of transport and a possible career,” said Pierce. Scott Smith, owner of The Bicycle Chain shops in the Raleigh-Durham area, is likewise thinking long term. “Your twelve-year-olds are your twenty-five-year olds in thirteen years — they’re my future customers,” said Smith. “It's important to make bicycling safe, inviting and fun.”

Eric Supil, executive director of the Charlotte Re-Cyclery community bike shop and of the local Trips For Kids chapter in Charlotte, North Carolina, emphasized the transformative role youth play in shaping communities. “We want to build a strong future by making sure that we're enriching and we're encouraging youth to make cycling part of their lifestyle,” said Supil. With the understanding that the youth are going to be the ones most impacted by current infrastructure investment and urban planning decision making, Trips For Kids Charlotte leads bike camps in local neighborhoods so youth can understand and engage with decision-making for transportation infrastructure investments and help shape the future of mobility in Charlotte. 


Supporting youth cycling engages families and is good for business 

By backing local youth cycling programs, bike shops can have a ripple effect, encouraging parents, guardians and other family members to both ride bikes and buy them. At the Charlotte Re-Cyclery, a youth-focused, earn-a-bike program makes it easy for kids to enroll in a street smarts curriculum and receive a free refurbished bike, lights, lock and helmet upon completion. Through a partnership with Cycling Savvy, the Re-Cyclery expanded in order to host entire families. 

“The [family] program provides a bonding opportunity and a way to continue engagement,” said Supil. “It creates a pathway so that youth can learn and build reinforcement and support from the people that are closest to them.”

Learning to reattach a bicycle chain at the Charlotte Re-Cyclery. Credit: Charlotte Re-Cyclery.

Engaging youth and their families also has a financial benefit, helping shops bring in more customers. The Bicycle Chain offers discounts to youth who participate in the local National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) team, a decision that pays off in increased sales to parents looking to ride with their children. University Bicycles and Art’s Cyclery, a bike shop in San Luis Obispo, California, also offer discounts to local NICA teams with similar results. Josh Job, owner and service expert at Art’s Cyclery, has seen how getting kids stoked on bikes can set off a domino effect, ultimately bringing more parents into the store. “That parent will come out next time that we have an event and maybe that'll get a brother or sister into it too,” said Job.

Supporting youth cycling diversifies the bicycle industry

Exposing youth of all backgrounds to biking helps diversify a historically male-dominated and predominantly white industry. By targeting female and BIPOC youth in particular — with workshops, skills clinics and mentoring programs — local bike shops are helping remove barriers for populations that have typically been left out. These efforts have the added benefit of helping create a more diverse talent pipeline for bike shops and the bike industry in general. 

In Boulder, University Bicycles offers youth mechanic clinics specifically for women. “We’ve only done a few clinics, but that helped us get a bunch of young women interested in working on their own bikes,” said Pierce. Representation in bike shops can also help youth feel comfortable entering bike shops, creating an environment where they’re able to ask questions and even envision themselves working. “I am incredibly proud of the more experienced women we have working in service,” said Pierce. “They are active in teaching the younger, less experienced women and opening up opportunities to these young women that they previously might not have thought possible.” 

As a direct result of these clinics, University Bicycles ended up with five high-school-aged women working at its shop over the summer. Across the country, Supil and the Charlotte Re-Cyclery are in the process of developing an internship program to train diverse youth in bike mechanics and create a skilled, marketable workforce that represents the Charlotte community. The Re-Cyclery also offers low-cost or free bicycles in order to remove the high up-front equipment costs to biking. 

“That's a pro for the ecosystem of cycling here in Charlotte,” said Supil, who sees some of his program participants upgrading to bicycles from for-profit shops after discovering biking through the Re-Cyclery or Trips For Kids programming. For-profit bike shops in Charlotte accept used bike donations on behalf of the Re-Cyclery. “You have a gateway to bicycling, you have a next step and it almost becomes like a circular economy in a way,” said Supil. 

[Youth mechanics clinic for women at University Bicycles in Boulder, Colorado. Credit: University Bicycles, Boulder, CO.]

Other actions bike shops can take include offering up stores as meeting spaces for youth programs, as well as collaborating with non profits like Outride, which works to diversify cycling communities and advance youth health outcomes through its Riding For Focus (R4F) middle school education program. In Los Osos, California, Art’s Cyclery championed an Outride Bike Build at Los Osos Middle School. Together with Foothill Cyclery, Bike San Luis Obispo and volunteers from the Cal Poly Cycling Team, Art’s Cyclery built 51 bikes for the Los Osos R4F program. “Outride is helping less fortunate kids that don't have a bike to really get out there and experience it,” said Job.

Riding for Focus Bike Build for Los Osos Middle

PeopleForBikes applauds the work of local bike shops around the U.S. supporting youth cycling programs. Is a local bike shop in your community doing awesome work to get more kids on bikes? Let our PeopleForBikes’ youth team know. Drop a line to Nick Aguilera, youth and community partnerships manager. 

Why Local Bike Shops Should Support Youth Bicycling 

Topics

First Time Bikers

PeopleForBikes at Work on First Time Bikers

News

The Making of a Bike Ecosystem

Introducing Our Spring 2021 Community Grants Recipients

The 2021 Outride Research Summit

Pivot Cycles Is Welcoming Refugees to America

Better Bike Share Partnership Awards $89,970 in Grants

Why Local Bike Shops Should Support Youth Bicycling