News From Outride

This year's summit, Advancing Youth and Community Well-Being through Cycling, covered topics as wide ranging as measuring brain activation and youth development, to programmatic models centering youth voice, to cycling as a social justice issue. It was a first-of-its-kind convening of individuals, researchers, community organizations, and educators all speaking to the importance of diversifying the next generation of cyclists and taking an active role in well-being and futures of youth—by getting them on bikes!

How do Bikes Build Communities? Start with a few mountain bike champions who also serve as Outride Athlete Ambassadors. Add a few dozen friends and volunteers. Bike Shop owners on board too.

We are sharing two inspiring stories about Black cyclists who paved the way for freedom and equality. Keep reading to learn about the 19th-century female transportation pioneer Katherine T. “Kittie” Knox and “The World’s Fastest Man” Marshall “Major” Taylor.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the Physical Education classes at Highland Middle School (HMS) in New York’s Hudson Valley to pivot virtually this fall, but students have a new reason to get outside and get moving.

Laramie Middle School (LMS) physical education is expanding their Physical Education program with fleet of 26 mountain bikes that are now part of the PE curriculum. Last fall, Outride awarded the Riding for Focus grant to the school.

Veteran educator Stephanie Ford recognized the potential value of an innovative program using bicycle riding to encourage student development. And representatives of the Spirited Cyclist Bike Shop were intrigued by the prospect of introducing young people to the world of cycling while also supporting a local school.

Outride is excited to announce our record-breaking grant awards from the Summer/Fall 2020 cycle, our third round of the Outride Fund since launching the program in 2019. Applications were received from 51 tremendous cycling organizations and programs in three core funding areas: Youth Cycling Education, Youth Rider Development, and Trails, PumpTracks, and Bike Parks.

Outride recognizes Indigenous People's Day and Native Peoples as the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. We acknowledge that there are disparities in opportunities in these Indigenous Communities created by occupying the ancestral lands of their people, as well as the brutal history of the colonization of our country.

The Blakeley Bike Trail Initiative is a group of local trail riders in Alabama who have teamed up with Historic Blakeley Park to help develop and maintain the park trails. Through a partnership with Eastern Shore Cycles in Daphne, Alabama, the park now has a designated bike trail. The 10 mile loop traverses scenic wooded trails alongside many the Civil War earthworks.

Last week a handy crew at Outride anchor donor Specialized’s Salt Lake City warehouse pulled together the bike build for Glendale Middle School.

Outride Ambassadors give youth in our programs someone to look up to. Each has a unique and powerful story of how cycling has impacted their lives - inside and outside of competition. We want our kids to see the whole picture when it comes to bike riding, and we need you to help us achieve this goal.

We learned at our recent Research Summit about the positive impact of exercise and how cycling can benefit the brain. So, to help you navigate the path to education this fall, whether it’s virtual or in person, we’ve collected some resources and words of wisdom to share.

Outride hosted its Fourth Annual Research Summit on July 31st, bringing together leading experts to share the latest research about the wide-ranging benefits of cycling that further the Outride mission of improving the academic, health, and social success of today’s youth through cycling.

North Iowa Human Powered Trails has partnered with local organizations to build, maintain, and revitalize trails in the Mason City area. With help and support from the Outride Fund, they received a $7500 matching grant this spring to build more trails.