Youth Bike Council Improves Youth Health Two Wheels at a Time
This post was written by the National Youth Bike Council. CalBike is delighted to see a new generation of advocates working together through NYBC and the Youth Bike Summit.
Top photo: Youth Bike Summit youth-only attendees take a photo in 2016
Bicycles serve as a great catalyst, more now than ever, in aiding youth health in the U.S. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 20.1% of U.S. youth aged 12 to 17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2021, but we are here to change that.
Reclaiming youth health is best done directly through peer-to-peer engagement, like through the initiatives run by the National Youth Bike Council (NYBC). NYBC is a youth-led organization that started in 2017. It was formed to create more young leaders with the ultimate goal of improving their health and the health of those around them. Biking as an aerobic exercise is an amazing way to improve physical fitness while also creating a system of community and care for the environment in the process.
Youth Bike Summit brings young advocates together
In 2016, originating Council members Adiva, Joshua, and Noah attended our first Youth Bike Summit. The Youth Bike Summit offers educators and students a place to connect, discover new initiatives being led by other young people, form friend groups, and learn about topics from sustainability to civil action.
The next National Youth Bike Summit will be held in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, June 14-16, 2024. More information about attending can be found here.
Since it started in 2011, the Youth Bike Summit has stood on five beliefs:
- Youth have the capacity to lead.
- The bicycle has the power to be a catalyst for positive social change.
- It is important to have a diverse, multicultural, and equitable movement.
- When the youth ride bikes, our communities are healthier, more sustainable, and more socially advanced.
- Sharing and learning together will make each of us stronger.
Those beliefs have held strong, motivating Adiva, Joshua, and Noah to create the Council. After we created NYBC, Joshua became the president and led the Council to recruit city youth representatives from different communities across the U.S. to help work on one-off initiatives that would promote youth leadership.
Youth presenters at the Youth Bike Summit
Originally, the organizers of the Youth Bike Summit were a collective of youth bike program staff from different bike shops or afterschool programs. After 2020, the NYBC took charge of leading future summits because managing operations at home became a bigger concern for many of these programs than organizing the Summit.
Although the NYBC has been established, Council members dream of bigger ideas for what bicycles can do for their peers. Some of these ideas include creating environments where communities can take advantage of active local youth action groups that improve the bicycle experience through a youth perspective.
As the new leaders of the Youth Bike Summit, we envision a world where young people can use the bicycle and their own leadership to improve the health of their communities. The Youth Bike Summit is a unique opportunity to demonstrate the power of youth leadership and excitement around bicycles as desired by young people.
Youth advocates need support from the wider bicycling community
Today, the Council hosts the annual Youth Bike Summit to enable networking and learning opportunities for its youth bike-oriented partners. Additionally, the Council performs one-off initiatives that promote youth leadership and bicycling through conferences, speaking, and local projects.
Organizing young people and their supporters through the Youth Bike Summit is an ambitious way to tackle the health crisis facing young people today. Without the support of the larger community, youth-led transportation initiatives like the NYBC, the Youth Bike Summit, and local youth initiatives won’t realize their full potential to impact the health of young people across the U.S. Help us make a positive change by telling your friends and loved ones about this amazing event! If you’re not able to attend, then join us in Boston at the 2025 Youth Bike Summit. Find out more through our newsletter.
This year’s Youth Bike Summit (YBS) will be hosted by Community Bike Works from June 14-16 in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and will kick off on Friday evening with a welcome reception.
Saturday will offer a full day of classroom-based and ride-based workshops, including opportunities for attendees to try the track at the Velodrome or participate in a bikes and boating adventure.
YBS will culminate on Sunday with the YBS Big Ride that will take attendees through downtown Allentown, along the historic D&L Trail, and to Bethlehem’s iconic Steel Stacks.
Share your knowledge through workshops or help a young person get to the summit.