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Lucas Beyer, left, and Nick Clark of the New York-based nonprofit CycleService, have ridden their bikes more than 2,000 miles on their cross-country giveaway tour. Next stop: Ventura, Calif. Dual Suspension Mountain Bike
A volunteer shows a bicycle recipient the proper way to wear a helmet.
Nick Clark talks with a student and parent about bicycle safety.
Students ride their new bikes on the Skyway Elementary School outdoor basketball court.
Kids ride their new bikes on the Skyway Elementary School outdoor basketball court.
Lucas Beyer, left, and Nick Clark of the New York-based nonprofit CycleService, have ridden their bikes more than 2,000 miles on their cross-country giveaway tour. Next stop: Ventura, Calif.
A volunteer shows a bicycle recipient the proper way to wear a helmet.
Students ride their new bikes on the Skyway Elementary School outdoor basketball court.
Two founding members of a New York-based nonprofit recently rolled — literally — into Colorado Springs as part of a cross-country mission to share their love of bicycling and the outdoors.
That’s not the only thing they shared. Lucas Beyer and Nick Clark also gifted more than 50 local children with new bikes.
CycleService is a small nonprofit organization dedicated to “promoting youth mental wellness and independence through biking,” according to its website. Beyer said part of the group’s mission is to help as many kids as possible to enjoy the freedom that comes with owning a bicycle.
“A bike is often a kid’s first bit of independence,” said Beyer. “You get your first bike, all of a sudden you can visit your friends, get out of the house and explore the neighborhood. If you live close enough to school, you can ride your bike there. It opens up a whole world of possibilities.”
Colorado Springs was the second giveaway stop in a 3,000+-mile journey across the U.S., during which CycleService plans to give away 200 bikes. As a way to drive home their twin messages of freedom and movement, Beyer and Clark decided to make the trip on their own bicycles.
Nick Clark talks with a student and parent about bicycle safety.
“(Long-distance cycling) is a brand new experience for both of us,” Clark said on Saturday. “We’re riding anywhere from 50 to 100 miles a day. Before this trip, I had never ridden more than 10.”
The bike trip is Beyer’s brainchild, sparked when he learned that a friend had ridden a bicycle down the Eastern seaboard, from Canada to Florida.
“I’d never thought of doing anything like that before. It blew me away,” he said. “That’s where the idea came from: We’d bike across the country, and we’d do it while spreading this love, this passion that we grew up with and means so much to us.”
The CycleService team — composed of Beyer, Clark, deputy director Seamus Galvin and development director Kayla Sadraie — selected four cities for their giveaway: Knoxville, Tenn.; Colorado Springs; Ventura, Calif.; and their hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
“We wanted to choose places where our program was needed,” Beyer said. “So we looked for mid-sized cities with at least a 10% poverty rate.”
In each city, the group was able to find a local bike organization to help with distribution, including the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit Kids on Bikes.
With their locations selected, and a plan in place, Clark and Beyer loaded their bikes with gear, and on May 29, they set off on their journey.
They began in Yorktown, Va., at the eastern end of the Transamerica Trail, a cross-country bicycle route, and rolled through several states, making stops in large cities and tiny towns, sleeping under the stars, and eating meals prepared on a miniature camp stove.
Along the way, they’ve seen parts of the U.S. they never thought they’d visit and met scores of interesting people, they said.
“What’s struck us most is the kindness of people we’ve encountered along the way,” Clark said. “We’ve had people buy us dinner, let us stay in their yard for the night, cook us breakfast, grill us burgers and hot dogs at a family cookout … all sorts of kindness.”
“We became part of people's families, if only for one night,” Beyer said.
Kids ride their new bikes on the Skyway Elementary School outdoor basketball court.
On Saturday, Beyer, Clark and a contingent from Kids on Bikes hosted a bicycle giveaway and “community ride” at Skyway Elementary School, donating 53 bikes in total. The group also gave comprehensive instruction on bicycle safety and stewardship.
“It’s not enough to just hand a kid a bike,” Beyer said. “They need to know how to take care of it, and how to ride safely.”
Skyway principal Elizabeth Dombrowski said the CycleService team affirmed her belief in the essential goodness of people.
“This is wonderful,” Dombrowski said. “It shows that there are good, kind people out there, doing good things.”
Skyway parent Stephanie Morotto said she was touched by the generosity and excited about the possibilities a new bike would open up for her son, Brody.
“This is a great thing for kids,” Morotto said. “This will get him out of the house more, and help him be more active. It’s a great opportunity for him.”
Dave Dillard said the new bike would help his daughter, Ella, spend more time away from electronic devices.
“Kids’ lives are so wrapped up in the digital world now,” Dillard said. “Anything that gets kids away from their screens and out into the real world is a good thing. This gives her a fun option for physical activity. I’m thrilled about it.”
Back on their bikes and headed west on the final leg of their ride, Beyer and Clark plan to reach Ventura at the end of August before returning to Buffalo for their final giveaway. Any leftover funds from this year’s trip will go toward a 2024 project, they said.
Asked if they planned to ride their bicycles back to Buffalo, Clark and Beyer shook their heads emphatically.
“No,” they said in unison.
Cassie Mehring can do all these things despite the fact that she carries an extraordinarily rare genetic anomaly that nearly killed her two years ago. The PPA2 gene produces an enzyme that generates energy at the cellular level, according to Children’s Hospital Colorado Genetic Counselor Janell Kierstein.
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