Empower Your Community to Support Youth Biking!
Our Winter Grant Application is now Open!
Please help spread the word
Start a fundraiser on our giving platform and receive up to $15,000 in a matching grant. The Outride Fund supports projects related to youth rider education and development, bike co-ops, earn-a-bike programs, places for kids to ride, and other visionary youth cycling initiatives.
Learn more here.
Inside Sam’s Place at AIM Academy
Students will be able to learn how to work on bikes in a beautiful space that pays tribute to an incredible young man with a passion for cycling. The Outride Fund contributed a $15,000 matching grant to help make Sam’s Place a reality, and Outride Staff were on site in Manayunk, PA for the Grand Opening this October!
Outride fund partner spotlight: Sam’s Place
Since the fall of 2019, the Outride Fund has committed over $1 million in matching grants to more than 120 youth cycling organizations across the country.
Outride is committed to increasing access to bicycles, programs, and safe places to ride for youth, especially those from marginalized, BIPOC, and underrepresented communities. If your organization or an organization in your community is also dedicated to empowering local communities and improving access, diversity, equity, and inclusion for youth riders, send the Outride Fund grant opportunity their way.
Outride Fund grants are an ideal way of building cycling ecosystems. For example, Riding for Focus (R4F) School AIM Academy in Manayunk, PA already added a NICA team as a complement to the PE-based cycling curriculum. When NICA student and bike mechanic Sam Ozer was tragically lost while commuting home from his job as a bike mechanic at the local Trek shop, AIM Academy, R4F Champion Anne Rock, and Sam’s parents and community came together to build Sam’s Place - a place for kids from the local community to learn bike mechanic skills and certification. The Outride Fund contributed $15,000 in matching funds to support the construction of Sam’s Place, partnering with Trek and Project Bike Tech to form a true pathway for local youth cyclists. Outride Executive Director Skye DeLano and Outride Fund Program Manager Andy Cunningham were proud to be on-site and in-person for this emotional grand opening.
Getting kids on bikes at Lillooet Secondary School
Riding For Focus (R4F) leaders are championing the physical, mental, and emotional health benefits of bike riding for their students at Lillooet Secondary School in BC, Canada. Outride was able to deliver a fleet of 20 bikes. As he watched students react to the new bikes, school vice-principal Dave Remple said he does not “ see that level of universal engagement very often” and he’s excited for the Riding For Focus curriculum to get underway. We will share more R4F news soon!
Lillooeth Secondary School students share challenges that they Outride.
(Photo Credit: Bob Jones)
Visiting Our Partners in the four corners
R4F Program Manager Lauren Freeman will be visiting schools and partner programs in Flagstaff, AZ, and the Four Corners region to support their work and share the word about Outride as we help support their bicycle ecosystems. Follow along on Instagram for updates from the trip.
Using Research to make the case for more biking
School is back in session! We are working with our R4F instructors around the country to learn how R4F is changing outcomes in the classroom and beyond. We are releasing a new program impact report in early 2022.
Our Research Manager, Esther Walker, shared findings from our Riding for Focus programs at the 8th International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) Congress in October, the world’s largest forum related to physical activity and public health. Key takeaways from the presentation were:
Biking during PE is largely popular amongst middle school students
Biking during PE instills an interest in riding outside of school
Where students like to ride, who they like to ride with, and how they engage with riding is influenced by gender