CycleTrooper

What does mobility mean to you? What about to our most vulnerable neighbors who don’t drive and are either dependent on others to access services or dependent on bikes but struggling to afford basic maintenance?

To the Wheat Ridge Active Transportation Advisory Team [ATATs], mobility embodies both freedom and quality of life which is why we are dedicated to ensuring everyone in our community is able to participate in active transportation, regardless of ability and resources. To achieve this vision, the ATATs are creating "CycleTrooper." Inspired by “Cycling Without Age”, the CycleTrooper will be a multi-purpose pedicab bicycle that will function both to transport community members who can't independently ride a bicycle as well as transport the equipment needed to perform free and low cost bike repairs in underserved neighborhoods. We’ll even use it for our bi-annual Ride for Reading to deliver books to local Title 1 schools.

CycleTrooper is a unique and inspiring rolling model of mobility, education, equity, and sustainability.

The tax deductibility of your contribution may be affected by goods or services received. Please contact your financial advisor with questions regarding your donation.

Once funded, there are only a few steps necessary to bring this vision to life:

1. Purchase the pedicab;

2. Purchase the tools for bike repairs (we already have a bicycle shop partner); and

3. Reach out to our community and start to help!

Cycletrooper will be highly flexible and be able to fulfill all these needs:

Ride for Reading: the beneficiaries of this program are elementary school children in underserved (typically) communities.  The ATAT performs these local events under the umbrella of the national Ride for Reading organization, http://www.rideforreading.org/. We collect book donations between our twice annual events, and then deliver those books to the schools on bicycles. Some of these children have no books at home, and the impact is truly touching. Check out this video of our most recent event: https://youtu.be/J6dmilr7ep0.

Mobile Bike Repair: 1/3 of our community cannot drive a car due to age, ability, and/or income. Thus, bicycling is not recreation; it is a necessity. This segment of our community may not have the income or skills to maintain that primary mode of transportation. The ATAT has identified the need for mobile bike repair and has a partner bicycle shop that will provide significant discounts on tools and parts while also sharing the use of Cycletrooper. During scheduled and communicated visits throughout the community, ATATs and other volunteers will help provide needed parts and repairs along with instructing bike owners on basic maintenance so they are able to sustain their equipment independently.

Freedom of Mobility! Cycletrooper’s third planned use is as a pedicab for persons of limited mobility (seniors, disabled, children, etc.) to enjoy the freedom of human-powered open air transportation. The ATATs have experienced huge interest in a European program called Cycling Without Age, in which the community provides recreational and transportation rides in pedicabs for seniors. During our participation in the annual Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival Parade, the ATATs noticed that the people in the assisted living facilities along 38^th Avenue were sitting in neat lines under tents along the street to watch the parade. We decided they should be in the parade next time. Wheat Ridge is among the oldest (by median age) communities in the country and we want to engage that segment to a greater extent.