Over the last 20 years, Planet Bike has been committed to supporting organizations working for sustainable transportation solutions. An importation part of that mission has been to encourage youth cycling. Over the years we have partnered with organizations such as Trips for Kids, the Youth Bike Summit, BikeWorks, and more than 30 other organizations by providing bike locks, bike lights and financial contributions to promote youth cycling.

With our deep history and commitment to youth cycling Planet Bike was invited to participate in this fall’s inaugural meeting to create the Youth Cycling Alliance. Over 30 industry and advocacy folks representing 11 different national organizations convened to identify opportunities for strengthening partnerships and aligning youth programming efforts nationwide.

Along with Planet Bike’s Advocacy Director, representatives from Trips for Kids, People for Bikes, League of American Bicyclists, International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and other organizations discussed how best to improve access for youth cycling. What emerged were ideas about best practices for teaching kids to ride, forging industry-advocacy partnerships and creating a shared goal and vision of teaching life skills to kids via the power of the bicycle.

Our gratitude goes to Kim Baenisch (Trips for Kids) and Nat Lopes (Hilride) for convening this meeting and doing the heavy lifting to form the Youth Cycling Alliance. Although the Alliance is in its infancy, the conversation has started and will continue to grow. If you would like to be involved or follow the progress for this effort, we encourage you to follow the movement on their Facebook page: Youth Cycling Alliance.