Youth Bike Summit: Giving Young Bike Riders a Say Since 2011

Starting in 2011, the Youth Bike Summit has brought together youth leaders in cycling to “share ideas, give youth a voice, and encourage civic engagement and advocacy” (Youth Bike Summit). Over the years the summit has been held in New York City, Seattle, Minneapolis, Arlington, Atlanta, and this year in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Organized since 2023 by the Youth Bike Council, this year’s summit, held from June 14-16th, was focused on reinvigorating the youth cycling movement which had faced sharp headwinds since the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. According to Joshua Funches, Youth Bike Council president, in his article for Streetsblog,

We are going to need a village. We will need the entire community to help nurture the next generation of youth leaders who will lead our advocacy initiatives, who will help fight for bills supporting bike lanes, who will lead bike buses, and more. We have come full circle and young people now lead the Youth Bike Summit…Showing up and sharing your knowledge through workshops or helping another young person get to the summit is key.

The Summit Goes to Allentown, a Mid-Atlantic Cycling Hub

This year’s hosting organization, Community Bike Works, and venue Muhlenberg College provided an exciting program of rides and workshops to empower youth to get more involved in their local cycling communities. Some highlights included a visit to Bicycling Magazine’s headquarters, track bike riding at the Valley Preferred Velodrome, mountain biking, a “Bike n’ Boat” canoe trip, and a ten-mile “Big Ride” with Allentown’s mayor, Matt Tuerk. In addition to on-bike activities, there were a total of thirty-two workshops and discussions with titles such as “Examining American Car Culture”, “Empowering Girls Through Biking”, “Making Your Neighborhood Bike and Pedestrian Friendly”, “The Importance of Youth in Local Bike Shops”, and many more. Zoe Mitchell, a council member, had remarked that they wished they had even more time to attend the summit’s many workshops and panel discussions.

Youth Leading the Way!

 The 2024 Youth Bike Summit lived up to its theme “Youth Lead the Way” with 72% of its 206 attendees from 14 states identifying as such. To further galvanize the next generation of leaders and advocates in the cycling community, the Youth Bike Council also organizes a resource-sharing partnership to share resources, inspiration, and best practices among youth-serving organizations. The council is actively seeking youth and organizations to join them and support their mission as they gear up for next year’s summit hosted by Bikes Not Bombs in Boston, Massachusetts from May 30th to June 1st, 2025. Are you a young person who is passionate about bikes? Get involved with the Youth Bike Council and help lead the way!