OUTRIDe’s Riding for Focus: A Call To Action
Due to the pandemic, students across the nation are in need of a fun, exciting, and engaging outlet to encourage and motivate them to make positive and healthy choices for their physical, mental, and social well-being. Riding for Focus is that outlet.
The Physical Activity Alliance’s U.S. Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth (2022) reported a decrease in physical activity during the pandemic and an increase in sedentary behaviors, especially among girls and students of color. We must encourage safe, accessible, and fun alternatives for physical activity in and around schools to promote healthy living.
Riding for Focus is Outride’s school-based cycling program that can be implemented on campus during school hours or after school. Encouraging programming on campus through Riding for Focus is a successful way to provide students with access to cycling that will promote short-term and long-term health benefits for children and youth. Through the 12 lessons Riding for Focus cycling curriculum, students learn basic cycling handling and traffic safety skills alongside building social-emotional learning skills. While practicing cycling drills on campus, students are also gaining self-confidence and socializing with friends thereby boosting mental health and social cohesion.
After the Riding for Focus program is complete, students are more inclined to bike off campus with their friends and family. The data gathered by our research initiatives shows the positive improvements that cycling has on the brain and the need to encourage more programming in schools across the nation. Riding for Focus is a large part of our answer to a national epidemic, utilizing our partnership with Specialized to get more kids on bikes, improving their focus, strengthening mental health, and thus creating a greater community impact.