Another MyCycle Build is the Books

Another MyCycle build is in the books, and this year’s event brought 260 new bikes and helmets to elementary second grade students across Poudre School District.

On September 10 and 11, more than 170 volunteers came together with Bike Fort Collins to make it happen. Over the course of two busy days, volunteers unloaded, assembled, organized, and delivered bikes to six PSD Title I schools: Bauder, Harris, Irish, Laurel, Linton, and Putnam Elementary. Putnam also received bikes for its fifth graders as part of an expanded effort to provide bikes to students beyond the second-grade program.

For the students, the process that took months of planning and fundraising came down to one exciting moment: getting a bike of their own. A new bike can mean more independence, more opportunities to spend time outside, a way to get around their neighborhood, or simply the excitement of having something new to ride with friends.

MyCycle has come a long way since the program began in 2020. Over the past seven years, our community has raised an estimated $396,000 and provided 1,810 bikes to students. Putnam, Irish, Bauder, Laurel, and Harris have each participated for seven years, while Linton has participated for two years and Johnson for one.

With 1,810 bikes now distributed, MyCycle is just 190 bikes away from reaching the 2,000-bike milestone. That’s a remarkable accomplishment for a program that continues to be powered by local businesses, cycling organizations, individual donors, and volunteers.

One of the biggest drivers of that community support is the annual MyCycle Team Challenge, organized with the help of Dan over at Your Group Ride. The challenge brings local cycling clubs and teams together to raise money for bikes and helmets, turning some friendly competition into a very tangible benefit for local kids.

This year’s Team Challenge brought in $27,990 through 138 grassroots donations. The participating teams included Fort Collins Cycling Club, Team B.O.B., Poudre Sunrise Cyclists, Horsetooth Cycling, NCGR, Rio, Fort Follies, SendTown, MiiFlo Cycling Team, CSU, Bike Sports, Breakaway Cycles, Hart Cycling, Corndoggies, Viral Racing, and Queer Plus Bikes.

Poudre Sunrise Cyclists raised the most overall, bringing in $6,900, enough to fund 24.6 bikes.

While the Team Challenge is a fun way to bring the cycling community together, the money raised has a very real impact. This year’s fundraising helped provide more than 120 of the bikes and helmets distributed through the program.

The Team Challenge is only one piece of the puzzle. MyCycle depends on support from businesses and organizations that help make it possible to purchase and deliver hundreds of bikes each year. We are especially grateful to Scheels Johnstown for providing the Retrospec bikes and helmets and helping get the bikes to the schools. We also appreciate Your Group Ride for continuing to bring local riders and cycling teams into the effort.

Thank you as well to Dohn Construction, VanMeveren Law Group, Platte River Power Authority, Houska Automotive, and all of the other sponsors, donors, and community partners who helped support the 2026 program.

And then there are the volunteers.

More than 170 people gave their time over the two-day build. It takes a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to turn hundreds of bikes arriving in boxes into hundreds of students riding home on their new bikes.

We are incredibly thankful to everyone who showed up and helped make that happen.

Most of all, MyCycle is about the students. It’s about giving a child the opportunity to own a bike and all the experiences that can come with it. The smiles on build days are a good reminder that sometimes something as simple as a bicycle can open up a whole lot of possibilities.

After six years and 1,810 bikes, we’re proud of how far MyCycle has come—and we’re already looking ahead to the next chapter.

2,000 bikes is just around the corner.

Volunteers

We are deeply grateful to all the incredible volunteers who came out to assemble the bikes and help distribute them to the kids—your generosity and hard work made this possible!