Pedal Power

Kids. Bikes. Going Places.

Pedal Power is looking forward to another year of pedaling around Minneapolis, but needs your help.

This year our first $5,000 in donations will be matched! We're working toward a goal of $15,000 to keep kids biking, learning and exploring.

Pedal Power has made big improvements this last year, and we are hoping to keep the momentum going! We are currently working on expanding into our 5th and final Northeast Minneapolis public school—Las Estrellas Dual Immersion. As we work toward this goal, we need help to keep our current full-time programs running smoothly.

Thank you for your support this Give to The Max Day 2023! Donors like you make our bike adventures possible.

What Donations Fund:

• Bike repairs, replacement, and maintenance of our current bike fleets
• Building and upkeep of bike fleet storage
• Safety Gear — Helmets for each student, reflective vests, and high visibility gear for students & volunteers
• Inclusive Equipment so all students participate — Tandems, adaptive bikes, and support staff 
• Work of the teachers, which is largely unpaid and in addiction to regular duties
• Other supplies and equipment used during programming 

LEARN TO BIKE. BIKE TO LEARN.

Pedal Power is a successful bike education program operating in four diverse Minneapolis public schools: Waite Park, Pillsbury, Webster, and Field. 

As one of the first, and arguably the best, school-based biking programs around, Pedal Power serves as a functional model for other schools and districts. Our 4th and 5th grade classes go out for weekly rides with their teachers, use bikes instead of buses for field trips when possible, and ride year-round with an after-school group to locations all over Minneapolis. Students study science, history, art and more—then they bike to locations for hands-on learning experiences. They develop a strong connection with their neighborhood and build confidence, persistence, and grit. Their safety green shirts and hoodies bring smiles and waves from neighbors and fellow cyclists along the way.

Getting Started

Nine years ago, two veteran teachers realized that about half of the 4th and 5th grade students at their Northeast Minneapolis school did not know how to ride a bike. EL Teacher, Mark Trumper and Art teacher, Susan Tuck decided in that moment to work toward changing those numbers—one bike and one new rider at a time. Dozens of small grants funded a growing bike fleet, and volunteers were recruited to teach kids how to balance, pedal and shift gears. Trumper and Tuck volunteered hundreds of hours to bring biking to a school where almost all of the students are on subsidized lunch programs and more than half do not speak English at home.

Accomplishments 

Students have led rides during the Winter Cycling Congress, presented at the Youth Bike Summit, used their mechanical skills helping out at FreeBikes4Kids (FB4K) work sessions, and learned about much more than just riding bikes and navigating the City. Pedal Power has been recognized with Awards from the City of Minneapolis, Bike MN, and Our Streets Minneapolis, and been featured by People for Bikes, several local news stations, and is helping to shape the growing demand for universal bike education in Minneapolis. 

Donate now to help keep Pedal Power moving forward!

Contact: 

Mark Trumper and Susan Tuck 

PedalPowerMN@gmail.com