Kids Ride!
Bike Loaner Program

Thanks to a generous grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the donations of our supporters, we are launching a bike loaner library, where children who live with physical disabilities can borrow adaptive bikes from Catalyst Sports to use in their communities. We will check in regularly to ensure the bike is in good working order and meets your child’s needs. If you know a child who would be interested in a bike, please reach out to us at kidscycle@catalystsports.org. We encourage parents, teachers, therapists, or anyone curious to reach out to us.

We encourage any youth aged 5-17 with a physical disability to request a bike. Your child should be medically stable enough to participate in physical activity and be able to sit with assistance. You will need a secure place to store a bike and a safe place to ride it. You will need to either live within 25 miles of Atlanta or have a way to transport the bike so we can service it as needed.

The bike loaner program is for 1-year terms. We will check in every 3 months to make sure that you still want to keep the bike for the second half of your loan. We hope to have funding so that if you’d like to continue with the program, you can either keep your bike for additional years, or we can refit you with a new bike.

The bike will be yours to keep for 1 year. We can help families find a place to store their bikes, either at home or in their communities. You will be able to ride your bike whenever it is convenient for you.

Adaptive bikes require minimal balance and motor skills, making them easy to ride for many people despite physical disabilities. In many cases, once our staff fits a person for a bike, they can learn to bike with minimal instruction. If your child needs more help learning to ride their bike, we can work with their teachers, therapists, or local volunteers to help provide support.

The simple answer is, wherever everyone else is riding! Places to ride adaptive bikes should be free of curbs and equipped with bike-friendly paths. Adaptive bikes are lower to the ground, making it more critical that cars can see the biker. Local parks and bike paths are highly recommended, as are streets and parking lots that are clearly marked when children are playing.

The time from applying to receiving a bike depends on whether you have everything needed on your application and bike availability. We will work with you to ensure that you are ready to receive a bike, and will do everything possible to obtain a bike that fits your child well as quickly as possible. Some people benefit from more specialized bikes, which can take longer to receive. Also, if there is more interest than funds available to obtain bikes, we will begin a waiting list and provide bikes on a first-come, first-served basis as soon as funding permits. Our goal is to match kids to bikes within 2 months of applying.

Our team will respond to texts, calls, or emails within 48 hours if you have any questions or trouble with your bike. We schedule bike servicing every 3 months, either by coming to you (within 25 miles of Atlanta) or by having you bring your bike to the shop to ensure it continues to operate well for you. To reach us, please contact us at kidsride@catalystsports.org

Having a bike helps children build strength, confidence, and independence while staying active and healthy. It also creates opportunities for fun, family and friend connection, and time outdoors.

Follow the link in the section above to the interest form. The interest form will ask for information about your child and the location where your child will ride and keep the bike. Please reach out to kidscycle@catalystsports.org if you have questions about the feasibility of getting a bike, and we’d be happy to work with you. We are excited to work with schools, therapy clinics, churches, etc., to help you find a way to get a bike.

Yes! We have bikes to try at our bike shop, and we also organize group rides where your child can try biking before requesting a bike, or while they are waiting for their bike.

Bikes are fitted specifically to the person, and we will work with you to ensure your child can safely ride their bike. We ask that other people to whom the bike was not loaned do not ride your bike. If other people in your community are interested in obtaining a bike, please reach out to us, and we will try to find a good solution.

The space needs to be 3 x 1.2 meters, with enough room for the rider to mount the bike and move it in and out of the space. The space could be at a school, community center, church, garage, etc. If you need help identifying a space, our staff is available to assist.

No, not necessarily. Everyone should be active in the way they want to be active. It is possible to walk or scooter alongside someone riding an adaptive bike, depending on their skills. However, if other children or adults in your family or neighborhood wish to have bikes and are having trouble finding them, we work with other local organizations that can connect people with used and refurbished bikes.

We have a variety of bike brands and types available, depending on the child’s needs. We currently work with Hase Bikes, Topend, Freedom Concepts, Catrike, and are constantly adding more partnerships. Bikes will either be pedal-assist or pedal bikes.