There just aren't quite as many people on bikes AND it means we have time to work on some projects that the busy spring, summer, and fall seasons prevent us from doing.

​Yesterday was one of our busiest Fridays yet this fall though, despite the snow, and we had so much fun! Sharing about all the important moments with our community of support makes them feel even more special. Thanks for helping us make it all possible!

Sometimes we'll work with social workers and other out-of-school-time program leaders to get specific youth hooked up with one of these bikes, and other times we'll reference our list of students who we worked with in the summer at Fix programs who spent a lot of time working on a bike that really just needed to be replaced for one reason or another. Typically, they have outgrown the bike or it's just what we call an overhaul bike that has seen far better days.

This young man worked pretty hard at drop-in Fix programs this summer to get the bike seen here to the left safe and functional again. He was clearly pretty proud of himself. Exhibit A: that smile and Exhibit B: that glorious little bike!

Unfortunately, not long after he got it rolling again, the bike was stolen. Lucky for him, this fall a group of students through one of our Juvenile Home programs built up a replacement bike for him as an act of community service!  Yesterday he was able to pick up his new ride after school and the smile says it all! 

*If you want to help us prevent stolen bikes students work hard on in the future, consider making a donation so that we can buy every student in every program a high-quality lock from our distributor!

Chloe, one of our Jr. Instructors, spent a couple of hours with a Girl Scout troop to help them gain some Bike 101 skills and earn themselves a bike badge last night!

They girls learned about basic tools and bike parts, the way bike parts work together, how to fix flat tires, and how to ride safely in their neighborhoods. They each earned themselves a book from the Book Exchange and a t-shirt!

​We can work with your scout troops too! Just contact us for more information.

We raised $3,500 and welcomed over 100 new and returning friends for a beautiful afternoon of riding and celebrating in the name of Open Roads.

Folks in the cyclist route started off earlier in the day with a 26-mile loop to Plainwell and back! It was a brisk, sunshine-filled ride and 31 riders came out to enjoy it together. Last year was the first attempt at hosting a pre-event cyclist route and about 11 showed up to ride. Next year we're hoping to reach 50 cyclists for this portion of the day! This route was led by Board Members Paul Runnels and Steve Sutherland.

Our 4.5-mile slow roll through the city was led by experienced youth ride leaders and staff ride leaders- headed up by former Apprentice and current Jr. Instructor, Chloe Rhea. Throughout the entire, young riders in the front could be heard shouting directions and signaling riders in the back. It was a beautiful example of our program participants taking charge and leading the way. They received support from Bike the Zoo sponsors this year to co-lead monthly community bike rides, and their knowledge and experience of leading safe rides was evident throughout the route!