The mission of the Outride Fund is to empower local communities to launch a variety of youth cycling initiatives nationwide though providing matching grants to grassroots organizations in support of Trail Building, Youth Cycling Education, and Youth Rider Development. We are pleased to announce our commitment to youth cycling by funding grant awards surpassing $250,000 to organizations in 22 unique states.

“This infusion of support, at a time when there is much uncertainty in our world, will get more youth outside and active and riding for focus. Yes—a great healthy escape with multiple benefits—improved focus, less stress, better concentration, and smiles galore!”

This past Fall, Outride issued 19 grants to organizations in 13 states, committing $111,000 in matching funds if funding goals are met. This Spring, we awarded an additional 24 matching grants, committing over $149,000 to community partners in 14 states.

The Outride Fund accelerates the creation and support of cycling communities around the country through dollar for dollar matching grants. The process is simple—an organization launches a fundraising campaign with Outride’s EverydayHero fundraising platform and applies for match funds up to $15,000. Donors who contribute to the fundraiser receive a tax-deductible donation letter. The funding occurs with a cadence of three times a year—Spring, Summer, and Fall.

YOUTH CYCLING EDUCATION

CHESHIRE YOUTH BIKE SAFETY INITIATIVE, Granted $10,000, Cheshire Community YMCA, Cheshire, CT

CYCLING CALIFORNIA: EXPLORING OUR LIMITS, Granted $15,000, California Field School, Oakland, CA

R4F BIKE PROGRAM AT LAVA RIDGE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL, Granted $12,000, Southwest Utah Public Health Department, Santa Clara, UT

TEAM YARMOUTH, Granted $8,000, Project Bike Tech, Yarmouth, ME

TRAILS & PUMP TRACKS

NORTH IOWA HUMAN POWERED TRAILS, Granted $7,500, North Iowa Human Powered Trails, Mason City, IA

MT. APATITE SIGNATURE TRAIL - PHASE 2, Granted $2,925, New England Mountain Bike Association, Central Maine Chapter, Fayette, ME

PUMP TRACK AND SKILLS PARK AT SPOONER MIDDLE SCHOOL, Granted $4,500, Spooner Area School District, Spooner, WI

PLUMAS BIKE PARK, Granted $7,500, Plumas Bike Park, Quincy, CA

ASHLAND OREGON PUMP TRACK PHASE 1, Granted $2,500,Rogue Valley Mountain Biking Association, Ashland, OR

MT. SPOKANE UPPER 290, Granted $15,000, Evergreen East, Spokane Valley, WA

MOUNT AIRY SKILLS PARK, Granted $10,000, IMBA Chapter— Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance, Cincinnati, OH

ASHLAND BIKE PROJECT, Granted $15,000, Ashland Bike Project, Ashland, OH

BLAKELEY BIKE TRAIL INITIATIVE, Granted $3,000, Eastern Shore Cycles, Daphne, AL

DURANGO TRAILS 2000 TRAILWORK, Granted $3,750, Durango Trails 2000, Durango, CO

YOUTH RIDER DEVELOPMENT

TEAM THUNDERBIRDS, NICA Team, Granted $10,000, Napa Bike Coalition, St. Helena, CA

MORE EAST BAY GIRLS ON BIKES, NICA Team, Granted $5,500, Oakland Composite, Oakland, CA

MADCO, ARKANSAS NICA LEAGUE, Granted $3,000, Madison County Cyclists Composite, Huntsville, AR

DUST2 2020 TEAM GROWTH...MORE KIDS ON BIKES,NICA Team, Granted $1,500, DUST2 Pagosa Springs, Pagosa Springs, CO

ELKHORN COMPOSITE MTB TEAM, NICA Team, Granted $1,500, Elkhorn Composite MTB Team, Omaha, NE

LOST SIERRA COMPOSITE, NICA Team, Granted $1,500, Lost Sierra Composite, Quincy, CA

PATTERSON HIGH SCHOOL MTB RACE TEAM, NICA Team, Granted $2,600, Patterson Unified School District, Patterson, CA

SALINAS HIGH MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM-COWBOY, NICA Team, Granted $4,365, Salinas Athletic Boosters Club, Salinas, CA

WILKES COUNTY WILCO WOLVES COMPOSITE CYCLING TEAM, NICA Team, Granted $1,500, Wilkes County Wolves Composite Cycling Team, North Wilkesboro, NC

BREVARD YOUTH CYCLING ASSOCIATION, Granted $1,500, Brevard Youth Cycling Association, Brevard, NC

Now— get inspired by reading about some of the highlights of the awarded projects that will spark your imagination and creativity to get more kids on bikes—and perhaps motivate you to apply to the Outride Fund. The magic of these community partnerships is that they build friendships and life-long learning opportunities resulting in trails, programs, riders to last a lifetime.

CYCLING CALIFORNIA: EXPLORING OUR LIMITS
—Granted $15,000—

California Field School, Oakland, California
Support their EverydayHero Campaign

The California Field School’s mission is to take youth on adventure learning bike tours exploring social and environmental justice. Their approach of combining active travel with educational opportunities for high school students creates life-changing experiences. Students were inspired by a bike trip last year from Oakland to Eureka that challenged the students and pushed them through miles of coastal roads. They adopted a new motto that every uphill has a downhill and you just keep pedaling. The riders want to diversify the group and help diversify the face of cycling while empowering young women of color to ride. This year, the group - including 15-18 women from Life Academy - will bicycle from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo. The Outride Fund grant will help them purchase bikes as well as needed gear and accessories for this life changing and challenging adventure.

CHESHIRE YOUTH BIKE SAFETY INITIATIVE
—Granted $10,000—

Cheshire Community YMCA, Cheshire, Connecticut
Support their EverydayHero Campaign

The Cheshire Community YMCA and Bike Cheshire partner together to educate children about bike safety to schools in Cheshire. The program complements all 3 of the Cheshire Community YMCA's areas of impact - Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility. The goal of Bike Cheshire is to encourage a lifestyle of riding bikes for recreation, transportation, and/or commuting. This will help make Cheshire a place where people feel safe and welcome to bike.

TEAM YARMOUTH
—Granted $8,000—

Project Bike Tech & Team Yarmouth, Yarmouth, Maine
Support their EverydayHero Campaign

Yarmouth, Maine is a one of the most bike-friendly communities in Maine, with summer riding camps for K-6, over 10 miles of mountain bike trails from sea to shore, and a huge community of riders who support youth riding. This project is a natural next-step for the community to launch to improve the riding, focus, and academics of their youth and teach them how to fix their own bikes. Kudos to Team Yarmouth for making this dream project come true!

MOUNT AIRY SKILLS PARK
—Granted $10,000—

IMBA Chapter, Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance (CORA), Cincinnati, Ohio
Support their EverydayHero Campaign

CORA has been working with Cincinnati Parks to construct great trails in the greater Cincinnati area. Recently Cincinnati Parks tasked CORA with fundraising for the first skills park located in urban Cincinnati. It will feature both human-made and natural obstacles as well as natural surface trails which will create a world-class facility that is proven to provide a positive introduction to cycling and outdoor recreation. This is the perfect place for beginner riders to learn, for you to take friends for a “first-ride,” and a great spot to get kids ripping around outside.

MADCO, ARKANSAS NICA LEAGUE
—Granted $3,000—

Madison County Cyclists Composite, Huntsville, Arkansas
Support their EverydayHero Campaign

The Madison County Cyclists (MADCO) are a new team in the Arkansas NICA league. They began their journey in the spring of 2019 with a very small group of student athletes from the Huntsville School District, welcoming both boys and girls grades 6-12. Although mountain biking didn't appear to be conducive to the area, the program quickly took off and it became apparent that these kids were looking for something other than the normal scholastic sports provided by the district.

MADCO Mission: To create an enthusiastic group of student athletes, trail stewards, leaders, and citizens through cycling, regardless of a student athletes cycling skill set. We strictly follow the NICA mission of building strong minds, bodies, character and communities through cycling.

Outride helps school and trail champions make the world better for youth by harnessing the power of cycling to help them stay focused, active, and engaged. Read the Outride Fund Overview for a scorecard on our progress and step-by-step instructions on how to apply for Outride Fund matching grants for your cycling project.

Through both the Outride Fund and Riding for Focus grant programs we expect to give over $1.4 million in grants during FY 20. We would love to share some of that financial support with your community.

The next round of Outride Fund grant applications closes on August 8, 2020. If you would like more information on applying for an Outride Fund matching grant for your youth cycling community, please visit us here. Stay tuned for our Riding For Focus grant announcement in May!

Let’s get outside and OUTRIDE!

Complete list of grant recipients