About
Our Boulder nonprofit is made up of people who ride bicycles, love bicycles, and support bicycle-based transportation. We seek to create equitable access to bicycles for everyone in our community.
Our bike shop offers refurbished bikes for sale, and is a welcoming community and educational center for bike care and repair. Beyond our shop, we work to make a better Boulder for people who ride bicycles.
Community Cycles serves a wide population in and around Boulder Colorado.
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Low income families: Every December Community Cycles gives away over 300 bikes to kids in low income families in Boulder County. There is nothing like seeing the smiles and happy faces of the children, their families, and the many volunteers that make this event possible. Remember your first bike?
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Low income individuals: Since 2006, the Earn-A-Bike program has helped get more than 3,000 of our low-income friends and neighbors on bikes!
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General population: People from all walks of life use Community Cycles’ DIY Repair Shop. It’s satisfying for staff to see someone get their bicycle rolling again so that person can get to their job or school.
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Local employers: Our Bike Fleet program provides bicycles to local employers. This allows their employees, clients, visitors and customers use bicycles for trips around the city of Boulder.
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Bike advocacy: The Community Cycles Advocacy Committee is the voice for cyclists in Boulder County, working with local, state and federal government, as well as businesses and neighborhoods, for better access to bike parking, transit, and trails.
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Bicycle commuters: Bike commuters love Walk and Bike Month, celebrated every June. Bike to Work Day attracts 7,000 local residents annually to ride their bikes to work and enjoy breakfast stations all around the area.
Our History
Since our inception to 2005 Community Cycles has proudly been advocating for bicycles as a means of safe, sustainable transportation. Take a journey through the history and accomplishments of Community Cycles.
Our History
In 2005, a local high school student was inspired to start bike recycling in Boulder, saving bikes he saw heading to the landfill. He began to collect, repair, and sell refurbished bikes, donating the profits to charity.
In 2006, Community Cycles registered for 501(c)3 status and opened our nonprofit bike shop – a welcoming shop where people can repair their bikes, take classes and workshops, and volunteer.
Working with other community organizations to promote cycling , we continued to donate refurbished bikes locally and abroad. An after-school program teaching low-income kids about bike riding skills and mechanics started in 2007, and grew to become our Earn-A-Bike program.
In 2008 we began working with the City of Boulder to organize our City’s Bike to Work Day. In the first year, Community Cycles expanded the week-long event into Walk and Bike Month, a community-wide celebration of cycling, while growing bicycle commuters on Bike to Work Day by more than 50%.
From 2009-2014, we grew even more, adding the Kids Holiday Bike Giveaway where we gift over 400 bicycles annually to low-income children and families in our community. We’ve increased our staff, and taken on additional contracts and projects supporting bike commuting in our community, teaching workplace-based bike commuter workshops, installing bike parking at businesses and organizations, and launching the Bike-Friendly Business program, among others!
2015 saw Community Cycles take more bold actions to build a better Boulder for bicyclists by lobbying the City of Boulder for improvements like traffic calming on Colorado Avenue, improved biking and walking conditions on 30th Street and working with Boulder County to establish a Task Force for rebuilding the canyon roads to include wide shoulders, signage and pull off areas for bicyclists. We also helped revise the City’s Transportation Master Plan to include a stronger emphasis and a defined set of goals for getting more people on bicycles. We worked to install bike racks at businesses all over Boulder.
In 2017 Community Cycles’ accomplishments included recycling over 2,500 bikes, giving old bikes a new life, getting 250 people on bikes through our Earn-A-Bike program and teaching over 40 community workshops on subjects like bike commuting, bike maintenance and repair, and safe cycling skills.
Our Annual Kids’ Holiday Bike Giveaway is still going strong! 2017 provided bikes to 400+ needy children. Also for kids in Boulder we hosted a Kids’ Bike Day in May, teaching safe riding skills and repairing bikes for over 100 kids.
Working with local and regional governments, we envisioned, lobbied for and succeeded in having the City and County of Boulder fund a state-of-the-art, secure, bike parking facility at the Boulder Transit Center. We also lobbied CDOT to put in bike lanes on US36 from Lee Hill to Violet to improve safety. Also at City and County levels, we represented bicyclists, working to complete the Boulder bikeway system, to link communities through a regional trail network, and to negotiate cyclist/motorist conflicts.
In 2019 the big news for Community Cycles was fundraising and purchasing a permanent home at 2601 Spruce St, Unit B, in Boulder.
We are excited to own a permanent community bicycle center in Boulder, after leasing space and paying rent for the past 13 years. Thanks to everyone who has helped us get into our new building, raise the money for the purchase, and set up our new space.
With an outstanding location in the heart of Boulder and great access for all our programs this is a real win-win for the people of Boulder and Boulder County.
Community Cycles is eagerly looking forward to serving the community in this new facility.
Community Cycles’ permanent bicycle center is funded in part by the Community, Culture and Safety Tax on the 2017 ballot. Thank you, Boulder voters! Other support came from Boulder County Worthy Cause, the Gates Foundation, Hazel’s Beverage World, the Leslie Bohm Foundation, Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, People for Bikes and many other local businesses, organizations, and individuals.
More About Community Cycles
Mission/Vision/Values
Beyond our shop, we unite our community around biking, we advance the best interests of cyclists at the level of planning and policy, and we work to make a better Boulder for all people.
Our Staff
Whether it is getting affordable used bikes out to the community or making Boulder better for Bicycling, the Community Cycles Staff are your team ensuring that this Boulder nonprofit achieves its mission.
Our Board of Directors
Our Board ensures that as a Boulder non-profit, Community Cycles reaches its goals. This includes accountability for progress, success, and oversight to ensure viability and sustainability.
Annual Report
Ways to Donate
Explore the different ways to donate to Community Cycles, whether it’s one time, recurring or legacy giving. Through your donation, together We Are Building A Culture of Cycling.
The Latest News
Our blog keep you up-to-date on the latest Community Cycles news, from events and special offers to advocacy and new workshops.