There’s no stopping them. Squaw Valley residents Jake Spero and Duncan Sisson of Biking for a Better World will take 50 bicycles to outfit each of the young students and provide on-site lessons on safety and maintenance in La Bonansa in November 2012. This latest program is a continuation of the 2007 tour, Alaska to Argentina, when the founders of Biking for a Better World pedaled more than 15,000 miles across two continents to fund the building of the school in La Bonansa, Nicaragua. The school was built and functioning by November 2007, giving the riders the unique opportunity to meet the students and teachers at the school.
Biking for a Better World began with four friends from Lake Tahoe who dreamed of biking from Alaska to Argentina. The idea grew into a monumental project and a school was built in Nicaragua as the riders rolled across countries and continents—15,000+ miles in eight months, unsupported—from the beginning of the road to the end. It was through this endeavor that their charity was born.
Staying in line with the mission of bringing bikes to people who need them, BBW designs programs that effectively distribute bicycle equipment. All the money raised through membership, annual events, bike tours, day rides, and sponsorships supports BBW programs and operating costs. Biking for a Better World is unique in that it uses the physical effort of its members and riders to raise money to support its programs. They see the cyclical process of riding to raise money to allow others to ride as more valuable than simply donating money. To learn more how you can make a difference by riding your bike, click here.
To date, their accomplishments and funded programs have been impressive:
- Truckee Pump Track Project, 2012
- High Fives, CR Johnson Healing Center, 2012
- Truckee Community Christmas, 2011
- Tahoe Rim Trail Association, 2011
- International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), 2011
- North Tahoe Middle School, 2011
- High Fives, 2010
- Make-a-Wish Foundation (In honor of Shane McConkey), 2010
- Adventure Cycling Association, 2009
- Disabled Sports USA Far West, 2009
- BuildOn 2007, Nicaragua School