2025-2026 School Year!

What a fantastic year for youth on bikes! We wanted to share some of our favourite memories, some stats and of course some pictures from the 2025-2026 school year.

Standard Program

This year we were able to deliver our standard program at 14 schools. This means that over 1900 students have the skills to safely ride on the road with traffic, learned gearing, braking and turning manoeuvres, and even some basic maintenance to keep their bikes rolling. We even managed to have the school resource officers join on a community ride at one school! Our standard program includes Youth en Route bringing 45 bikes and helmets to a school. This is facilitated through funding from Jumpstart and Cycling Canada, with fleet delivery supported by The Federation of Calgary Communities.

Extracurricular Activities

While we were not able to deliver programming during October (one of our busiest months), we were still active in supporting educators. Our team joined several of the rides to support teachers throughout the month, and were so excited to see many of our students joining in!

Our team also joined up for the Calgary Climate Hub Hallowheelin’ Event, bringing treats, Bike Index Stickers and a “Bike Thieves Suck” info card to keep your bike safe.

We had so much fun at the Market Collective Christmas edition, making homemade ornaments from repurposed bike parts. There was the launch of our Bike Hub Community Shop, numerous Kids Bike Trade Ups, Calgary Earth Hour, The Calgary Bike Show, Dr Martha Cohen Wellness Fair, Cyclefest, The Mayor’s Environmental Expo, AMA Patrollers Picnic, Bike to Work (and School!) Day, and so many more meaningful community interactions.

Winter Program

We delivered winter biking specific programming at 3 schools this year (although many of our March and April standard students might argue they got to do a bit of both this year!). The weather conditions were perfect with fluctuations all three weeks to allow the students to experience the full spectrum that Calgary winters can have on our infrastructure. With our fleet outfitted with studded tires and a few lessons on how to dress for the weather, full classes were cheered by local bike commuters and even stopped to chat with the students to see what they thought of riding in ice and snow.

The students at Crescent Heights were even given the option of riding back on the cleared, relatively ice-free mobility lane or riding on the road that was a sheet of ice, and all but two chose the road, eager to test out what they had learned about riding in icy conditions. One student remarked that she had slipped crossing the road earlier on foot, and actually felt safer on the bike! We were happy to add winter bike skills to 400 students.

Adaptive Program

This was definitely our busiest year for the adaptive bike program, with 24 schools participating and over 400 students. They were able to try out a variety of adaptive bikes, with a huge number working their way up to riding on 2-wheel bikes. Parents, teachers and support staff were amazed at the progress their kiddos were able to make, and we hope they keep it up when we aren’t there to assist.

New Riders

Did you know that in some schools, up to 10% of their students have never been on a bike before? We managed to teach over 80 youth how to ride a bike, then build on those skills with braking, gearing and turning. Learning to bike in front of your peers can be challenging, but we found that they were the biggest cheerleaders, celebrating each new rider’s victory loudly, and often helping them out with tips.

I Want A Bike Program

We know that some of our students don’t currently have a bike, and before our program, didn’t even know they wanted one. In the case of the 80 that didn’t know how to ride a bike, they never considered having one. Due to a generous gift from The Prosser Charitable Foundation, we are able to offer a new lock, a helmet, some tools and a refurbished bike to anyone that needs one. This year, 192 students requested bikes.

If you have ever donated money, volunteer time or even a bike to Youth en Route, you should know the power of your donation. Students line up to select the bike that best fits them but also fulfills their needs. If you are ever looking to donate a bike, we can definitely tell you that any adult bike will do, as students request a number of bikes that we haven’t brought in our school fleets. Learn more about how you can help us help youth make sustainable transportation a viable and desirable option.

For the TLDR Crowd

14 Standard Program Schools with over 1900 students
24 Adaptive Program Schools with over 400 students
3 Winter Program Schools with almost 400 students
80 + new 2-wheeling riders
192 I Want A Bike Giveaways underway