Outride Riding for Focus Grants Are Open: Bikes for Schools, and Why We’re All In

At Bike Dads, we've spent years saying the same thing in a hundred different ways: get kids on bikes. Not just for fun (though there's plenty of that). Not just for exercise (though they'll get lots). But because riding a bike changes a kid. Their confidence. Their focus. Their mood. The way they see themselves.

So when Outride opened applications for their 2026-2027 Riding for Focus grants, we didn't just notice. We stood up and cheered. This is something we stand behind 100%.

Outride is a national nonprofit that's been working since 2014 to get more people, especially kids, experiencing the social, emotional, and cognitive benefits of cycling. Their Riding for Focus program puts bikes directly into public middle schools across the United States and Canada.

Selected schools receive:

• A fleet of bicycles
• Helmets
• Teacher training
• An evidence-based curriculum to integrate cycling into the school day

It's not an after-school club or a one-time event. It's bikes as part of the school day, supporting student well-being, engagement, and brain health.

Since launching, Riding for Focus has reached nearly 500 schools and more than half a million students. Outride has distributed over $10 million in funding, bikes, equipment, and programs to schools and nonprofits. This isn't a pilot project. It works.

If you're a teacher, administrator, or parent at a public middle school in the US or Canada, here's what you need to know:

• Applications opened: October 5, 2026
• Applications close: January 29, 2027
• Apply at: outridebike.org/ridingforfocus

Not eligible for a grant? You can still help. Outride welcomes sponsors who want to fund a program at a local school. Same link.

Informational Webinar

We ride with our kids. We watch them come home happier, calmer, more focused after a ride. We've seen what a bike does for a kid who's struggling. It gives them something that's theirs. Something they're good at. Something that clears their head.

Outride is doing that at scale, in schools, for kids who might never get on a bike otherwise. That's not just a nice program. That's the whole point.

If your school qualifies, apply. If you know a teacher, send them this. Let's get more kids on bikes.

Jack and Colin