With every child, there’s milestones. Certain moments every parent anticipates, celebrates, and remembers for the rest of their lives. The first time their kid crawls, talks, walks, reads, and, of course, the first time those training wheels are removed and that kid gets their first iota of freedom. It’s the most special moment of them all, because it’s not only a memory the parents keep forever, but the child as well. Unfortunately, unlike those other landmarks I mentioned, we don’t all get to have this one.
Today is World Bicycle Day. A day advocating, not only for environmental awareness, health, and fun, but for the importance of the bicycle and the necessity for access to everyone! Bikes are a lot of things in one. They’re an amazing physical activity, great for mental health, a sustainable transport system, a great way to socialize, and despite this all; something we all under utilize. So let’s take a moment on this June 3rd and look at why bike day started, why bikes are so important, and why they matter so much to us in particular.
The History of World Bicycle Day
It all started with a blog post. In February 2015, Polish social scientist Professor Leszek Sibilski published ‘Cycling Is Everyone’s Business‘ on the World Bank Agency’s website. An eye opening article on the state of the entire cycling industry. In it, Sibilski covers everything from the access to bikes, to the versatility of the bicycle, to it’s curbing of climate change, and even the importance of bikes on economic growth. This post didn’t stand alone though.
Following it’s release, Sibilski made it his life’s mission to give bikes their proper dues. Too many other things in life that didn’t leave the positive impact of bikes have had a day, so why shouldn’t bikes. So the next year, 2016, Sibilski released ‘Why is there no world day for the bicycle‘, a blog post basically using the previous one’s evidence as a cry for recognition. Not only hoping to recognize the bicycle on it’s own merits, but truly wanting at least a day where the foundations he worked with to bring bikes to poor areas received the spotlight they deserved.
With these two posts, the snowball was rolling. A couple months later, Professor Sibilski started a grassroots campaign supported by Sustainable Mobility For All, one of those amazing foundations he worked with often, and with their help, he got to the UN. The United Nations held a vote and, after years of effort, World Bicycle Day was adopted on April 2nd, 2018. The date was chosen to be June 3rd, a logo and colors were decided (white and blue), and all that work over those 3 long years finally paid off.
Why Bikes Are So Important to Us
So why are we in particular talking about this? Well if the name of our website didn’t give it away, bicycles mean our entire existence. 21 years ago, in 2005, we held our first Build-a-Bike® charity team building event. At the time, a new creation. There really had been no CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) events at that time and certainly none centered around bicycles, but they were such a natural fit. Of course a part of the reason we chose for the client to build bikes was because the actual process of building the bicycle is an amazingly fun team building activity.
It’s physical, mental, and something that requires a lot of teamwork to put together right, but so do a lot of things. Why didn’t we pick beds to build or toys or literally anything else, because we thought bikes were special. Seeing a kid going through unfortunate times receiving anything that brings them joy obviously feels amazing, but whenever that kid gets that bike they receive something else.
They unlock the world. They can ride down to their friends house or the park or school or the store or a restaurant or the playground or nowhere at all, they feel freedom for the first time in their lives. Over those next 2 decades we realized we chose right. At this point, thousands of teams have worked with hundreds of charities to give tens of thousands of kids that never would’ve had the chance for a bicycle, just that.
Stories From Our Instructors
But no matter how many stats I mention or studies I pull, the only real way to really understand how important these bikes are to these kids is to hear from people that see every single day. Here are a few personal anecdotes from some of our amazing instructors.
A Story From Amy
I think one of the stories nearest and dearest to my heart was at an event for Alcon. It was in Fort Worth, not far from our headquarters, and at the end of the event, the kids came in as a big surprise. Whenever we’re able to do that, it’s phenomenal. The kids were so excited. If you’re not familiar with Alcon, they have an eye museum on their campus. While touring the museum afterward, the kids got to take out their bikes. One little girl was trying to ride hers, but she had what’s called a “floppy shoe.” Most of us aren’t familiar with that term. It’s when the heel of your shoe is disengaged, so it kind of flops around and makes it difficult to walk.
She was trying desperately to ride her bike, but she couldn’t because of her shoe. In the moment, I just kicked off my shoes — my little Wonder Woman Chuck Taylors that I love to wear — and gave them to her. That baby rode all over the place in those shoes. She probably would have kept them if they had fit her better. Moments like that really put things into perspective.
In our world, we don’t usually worry about floppy shoes, and we don’t think about where our first bike came from because we simply asked for one and it was there. But for many of the kids who receive these bikes, it’s something that may never had happened for them unless organizations decide to come together and make a change.
– Amy Maybury, CRO/Senior Instructor
A Story From Colleen
There was one event I had last year where, at the end, the kids came in and were so excited choosing their bikes. Some of the participants were helping them get up onto the bikes, but there was one little girl who ran over before everyone else to choose hers. She was so excited. She stood there, and she was almost as tall as the bike itself. She was this tiny little girl, and she said, “I need help. Someone help me up on the bike.” We actually had to have one of the participants pick her up and place her on the bike because she was so small she couldn’t climb onto it yet. But she was just so excited to learn how to ride it.
– Colleen Staneart, Senior Instructor
A Story From Izzy
One of the personal stories that I can give to you guys is a local one here in Dallas. We did a bike event, and at the end of it, there were five kids that came. The cool thing was that nobody in the company knew they were coming, so it was a big surprise at the end. These kids marched down the middle of the aisles and jumped on stage. They were so happy to see these bikes. One of the coolest parts was that we got to have one of the kids speak. He was a little nervous at first, but afterward, he built up the courage to say a few words.
Basically, he just said, “Thank you for giving me my new bike.” Those are the things that make our job so fun and worth it. Being able to see a little kid who’s going to get a bike whose parents may not be able to afford one, and knowing that we got to help a company be a part of that, is what makes Bike Day so meaningful. Not only to us, but to everybody out there who may not otherwise be able to have a bike. Being part of Build-A-Bike® events, one thing that we get to be a part of—and something I’ve noticed—is that when those kids receive those bikes, it gives them independence. A lot of us forget about that.
– Izzy Anguiano, Logistics Director/Instructor
Happy World Bicycle Day!
In a world with 30 minute commutes, 12 lane highways, and high-speed bullet trains, it’s easy to forget bikes. Bicycles can seem antiquated. Like toys you used to play with, but outgrew. Something fun to do, but a waste of time. The thing is bikes can be toys. They can be something fun to do. They can also be so much more than that.
Driving your car to every destination no matter the distance doesn’t help the environment, but a bike does. Hopping on the train doesn’t lower your risk of heart disease, but a bike does. Bicycles can be toys, and exercise equipment, and transportation, and a social tool, and the key to your first taste of freedom, but better than I can put it, I think I want to end on a story that Izzy gave.
I grew up in the Midwest, and I was fortunate to have a bike. I had more than enough of them. I crashed them and had to get new ones, and some kids will never be able to have that experience. One of the great things about Build-A-Bike® is that we, along with the companies we work with, get to provide those kids with that independence.
They get to hop on a bike and ride up the street and come back, or learn a new skill. There’s really nothing you can compare it to, especially for those of us who got to experience that as kids. We take that for granted sometimes. But when you get to be a part of helping kids realize they’re gaining that independence, it kind of reignites that little kid in you. You remember the first time you ever got a bike, got on it, rode up the street, and maybe fell a couple of times, but just kept going.
There’s really nothing else I can say about it. The feeling you get is awesome. The people we help through our events get to see it too. You’ll see a whole room full of adults with huge smiles, knowing they’re helping kids and families in communities who otherwise may never get to have a bike.
It’s just an awesome feeling to be a part of that. I’m so lucky to be here at Leaders Institute, where we have the opportunity to do that any day of the week in any part of the country and help kids out there. We’re really grateful here at The Leaders Institute® for World Bicycle Day.