We love to see people, communities, and organizations taking the time to make bicycle safety and education a priority. It’s even more exciting when they go a step further and offer free helmets to make their efforts even more impactful. It seems every week we find another organization stepping up to the plate to make sure that children are equipped with the knowledge and equipment to be safe bike riders. Here are a few of the recent bike, bike helmet, and other bike item giveaways:

• In Grand Haven, Michigan, “A $2,000 grant from the Neel Foundation is giving participants of the Love INC Tri-Cities Love Links Bicycle Ministry program a solid head on their shoulders.” What exactly are they doing to ensure a “solid head”? They’re using the money to purchase 300-400 Bell bicycle helmets! The way it works is that Love Links will be able to give away helmets when people come to the ministry for bicycles. Bikes are distributed to people twice a month — from May to the end of this month, so get on down there! The bicycles are given away based on a voucher system. Clients go to Love INC’s headquarters, 1106 Fulton Ave., to obtain a voucher. From there, they take the voucher to one of the many bike giveaway dates. “Not everyone takes (the helmets), but we encourage them to,” program coordinator Charmaine Velik said. Visit Love INC bicycle program gets dollars for helmets for more info. (Alex Doty, Grand Haven Tribune.com)
• The “Halloween Haunt” Grand Opening celebration of the Valley Health Center Milpitas, took place on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 143 N. Main St. in Milpitas. In a twist on the traditional Halloween fair, this healthy haunt event had free kids activities, free trick-or-treat, and free food, as well as free health and dental screenings for adults and kids, including vaccinations. Kids also learned about bike safety and got a free bike helmet by attending the bike safety seminar from 1:15 to 2 p.m. (thanks to the Santa Clara Family Health Plan). Read more:  COUNTY CURRENTS: Celebration of New Valley Health Center (Dave Cortese, MercuryNews.com)
• Recently, members of the St. Augustine Kiwanis Club in Florida, along with Crookshank K-Kids (their youth services group), sponsored a program on bike safety and gave each first grader at Crookshank Elementary a helmet. The club hopes that the helmets get the youngest students off to a safe and responsible start, developing healthy habits in terms of bike safety. “Keeping students safe while riding their bikes is an important priority for the St. Augustine Kiwanis Club.” Now that’s the spirit! Kiwanis Club distributes bike helmets at Crookshank, (The St. Augustine Record)
• Taking a cue from our Minneapolis Bike Cop friends Mark Klukow and Mike Kirchen, the Pratt Police Department (in West Virginia) is now passing out free bicycle helmets to local children. Pratt Police Chief Eric Eagle said the Greater Charleston Pilot Club and local McDonald’s restaurants are teaming up with the police department to provide helmets for town residents. He said the Pilot Club will provide the helmets, which the police department will distribute. Police will also distribute McDonald’s meal cards to children wearing bike helmets. Pratt police giving away children’s bike helmets (Staff, The Charleston Gazette)

We’re also conducting a bike-helmet giveaway right now too! It’s easy to enter for your chance to win a free Bell true Fit helmet: Simply follow us on twitter at @BellTrueFit and you’ll be automatically entered into our drawing for a free helmet once we reach 900 followers! Visit Bell True Fit Twitter Contest: Round 2 Complete, Round 3 Underway for more details

We’ve reached more than 800 followers on twitter, and as promised the time has come to select a follower (at random) to receive a free Bell True Fit helmet!

With this milestone, we’re also donating five brand new True Fit helmets to Bike Cops for Kids in Minneapolis to help them in their effort to connect cops and kids using bike safety, helmets, and bikes.

City Hall, Down Town San Jose

Big thanks to everyone who re-tweeted and encouraged friends to follow. You all really are the engine that keeps us moving forward in making new connections.

OK, so the winner of Round 2 is … drum roll please … Toni Patton (@Totally_Toni). Congratulations!

Thanks for participating! Please pick a Bell True Fit size, and whether you’d like a boy’s/men’s or girl’s/women’s helmet (visit our Products page for helmet options), and then DM us your email on twitter so we can get your address to mail your free new helmet!

We still have two more rounds of free-helmet giveaways to complete, and we hope that everyone will continue to re-tweet for the chance to win.

For Round 3, when we reach 900 followers, we’ll donate five helmets to San Jose Bike Party – the organization dedicated to building community through bicycling.

Let there be bikes! SJ Bike Party

If you missed our posts on the first and second rounds, here’s how it works: Follow @BellTrueFit on twitter and be automatically entered to win a new Bell True Fit bike helmet!

Each time we reach another 100 followers, we’ll randomly select one of our followers to send a new Bell True Fit helmet to! Plus, each time we reach another 100 followers we’ll donate five helmets to an organization that is dedicated to helmet advocacy and bike safety. We’ll be giving helmets away when we reach 900 followers.

So keep on tweeting, and please encourage your followers to follow @BellTrueFit so we can reach our goals that much sooner!

Here’s what you can tweet: Follow @BellTrueFit – we’re giving away True Fit bike helmets as we reach 900 followers! Please RT http://bit.ly/amXY8A

And be sure to check out the San Jose Bike Party on facebook and twitter @SJBikeParty as well.

What better time of year than summer to get out on two wheels and get some exercise?

Summer brings out the outdoor adventurer in all of us, especially bicycle riders. There are a host of camps taking place all summer long across the country. While most of them are  dedicated to mountain biking there are some other interesting camps to consider.

The Carpenter/Phinney Bike Camp is the ultimate cycling vacation. Teen Treks is an adventure travel camp for people age 12-18. They offer 1 – 8 week trips in Europe, Canada, and the U.S., where they ride all day and stay at hostels, hotels, and campgrounds overnight. Of course the well known Camp Woodward has been offering extreme sports camps for skiers, snowboarders, skateboarders, BMXers and more for 15+ years.

Participating in a bike camp can be a fun, invigorating, and educational experience for adults, and especially for kids. And to those that like to be outdoors and adventurous, bike camp sure sounds like a lot more fun than a traditional arts and crafts type summer camp. The simple act of enjoying a bicycle cruise on a clear day is a wonderful experience. Sadly, many children never learn to ride a bike and miss out on one of the basic activities that children enjoy.

For children with cerebral palsy, riding a bike can especially be a daunting challenge. Fortunately groups like the United Cerebral Palsy of Orange County are helping more and more children and youth learn how to ride bikes. The Orange County Bike Camp, a joint effort of UCP of Orange County and the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County, is a week-long activity where children and young adults with disabilities can learn to ride a bike independently. With the help of a dedicated team of volunteers, the “campers” start with specialized training bikes that are adjusted as they progress in their balance and control. Eventually, some move on to solo riding on two free wheels!

Bell is a proud supporter of the camp and participated in the event as well, donating 22 Blade helmets, 14 Adrenaline helmets, and 7 Universal XL helmets for the bike campers to use while they learned to ride, and of course the riders got to keep their helmets!

Here’s a testimonial from one mother about the event:

“Bike camp was fabulous.  My daughter Delaney did learn to ride a two wheel bike without training wheels.  She is really proud of herself.  She has challenged family members to ‘a race’ and is saying ‘follow me’ as she leads our bike ride.”

Cycling festivals galore! Plus, are you in it to win it? The Golden Helmet Award, that is! Whether you want to lost weight one bike ride at a time, head to Oregon for their annual Bike Summit or cycle across the country for a charitable cause, this week’s cycling news will get you riding!

• February 23, 2010: Tips for losing weight – changing the way you eat and adding in some more exercise time! Some facts on hiking and bicycling (Mark Richardson, Viploan.co.uk)

• February 23, 2010: Roswell, Georgia’s only bicycle-friendly community in Georgia, is having their annual Cycling Festival – Alive & Rolling – on April 24-25, Part of the plans? The Roswell Criterium with professional race teams, Kid’s Bicycle Rodeo, Mountain Bike Rides, Mayor’s Ride and more. One Region, Seven Communities, Dozens of Springtime Festivals and Events (Staff Writer, Hospitality Highway Newsletter)

• February 23, 2010: Organized by Cycle Oregon, the 5th Annual Oregon Bike Summit has been scheduled for June 4, 2010, and will be held at the World Trade Center in downtown Portland from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Save the Date: Oregon Bike Summit is June 4th (Jonathan Maus, BikePortland.org)

• February 23, 2010: Ann Wilson began her bicycling expedition in England last July, and has covered over 7,000km since, criss-crossing Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Iran and India. Now in Malaysia, she was inspired to embark on her journey after reading a book, “A Bike Ride”, written by Anne Mustoe, which chronicled the author’s around the world travels on a bicycle. Briton Ann Wilson cycles her way around the world (Shaun Ho, The Star)

• February 24, 2010: A trio of young Connecticut men in their 20s are bicycling across the country from St. Augustine, Fla., to San Diego trying to raise awareness of autism and collecting donations for Autism Speak. Autism awareness riders make their way from Florida to California (Marilyn Monroe, Wicked Local/GateHouse News Service)

• February 25, 2010: The Golden Helmet Award will recognize a Monterey County resident for his/her dedication to bicycling to and from work. Sign up before the March 31 deadline! Nominations sought for Monterey County Golden Helmet Award (Rachel Zentz, The Californian.com)

• February 26, 2010: Being called a “Hub Grub Ride”, the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club met up last weekend and pedaled to eight Seminole Heights restaurants. Tour Seminole Heights restaurants with the Hub Grub Ride (Dalia Colón, St. Petersburg Times)

• February 26, 2010: The sixth annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show took place this past weekend in Richmond, VA, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Handmade Bike Show Kicks Off (Staff Writer, Bicycling)

On a seemingly regular, recent Tuesday afternoon the small island country of Haiti was shocked and devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

In the days following the news of the massive quake, stories, images and videos of unimaginable destruction and unbelievable carnage swept across the newswires.

What accompanied these horrific developments was an immediate and unprecedented outpouring of relief aid, money, support and prayer.

Today’s Fast Facts Friday is meant to shine a light on only a few of the many good Samaritans and caring people across the world who have stepped up to help the people of Haiti cope with the devastation and rebuild their lives.

1) One electronic form of support brought $30 million in relief funds in a matter of days: text messaging.  Right after the quake, the Red Cross and mobile phone companies announced that they would take donations by cell phone. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and other major carriers all quickly jumped on the bandwagon, allowing donations over their text messaging network … with no hidden fees! Texting the word HAITI to 20222 will give a $10 donation to the Clinton Foundation. You can give $10 to the International Medical Corps (85944), the Salvation Army (52000), and the American Red Cross (90999) by simply texting the word “HAITI”. (ThePilot.com)

2) While people and communities across the US and the world are mobilizing and giving all they can to aid in the relief effort, governments have also been quickly prompted to action. The Obama administration has pledged $100 million in aid and the deployment of 10,000 troops. (NYTimes.com)

3) Canada’s military has deployed the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to provide “eyes-on” feedback and assistance to the catastrophic situation. The Canadian Forces has named this mission “Operation Helmet” and foresees it as an ongoing mission that will focus on supplying search and rescue teams as well as medical supplies to victims of this devastating earthquake. (MigrationExpert.com)

4) The Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans helped raise more than $34,000 for earthquake relief in Haiti prior to Thursday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. Fans donated more than $17,309, and the organization matched that bringing the grand total of money raised to $34,600. Overall, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and other professional sports have stepped up in a major way donating millions of dollars, hosting relief drives, and sending countless aid care packages. (ThePittsburghChannel.com and BusinessWeek.com)

5) Finally, after nearly two weeks of sadness, an image of hope has emerged: One of a smiling young boy named Kiki being lifted from the rubble by American rescuers:

 

(DailyMail.co.uk)

Even during the busy holiday week bicycling was as hot as ever in the news! So hot, in fact, that it’s even listed as one preschooler’s New Year’s resolution. Other news from this past week? New product announcements, diehard riders all over the world and cycling charities!

• December 28, 2009: Daron Robertson works two jobs and pedals to and from work every day and in all weather. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night keeps Marshall cyclist from pedaling to 2 jobs (Eric Crump, The Marshall-Democrat News)

• December 28, 2009: CYCLE Kids has been working with inner-city schools in metro Boston and New York City with a goal to adapt an activity kids love — cycling — into a curriculum that ingrains within both kids and their families long-term healthy lifestyle habits. Bicycling As Antidote To Childhood Obesity (Julianne Idlet, wbur.org)

• December 29, 2009: The nominees are now up for year’s “Exploits of the Year” on the Bicycling website. Did your favorite cyclist make the cut? Bicycling’s Exploit of the Year (James Startt, Bicycling)

• December 29, 2009: Former cyclist and Manhattan Publishing Executive João Correia is now back in top racing form after losing 60 lbs. Back in Racing Form After Dropping the Fork (Alex Williams, New York Times)

• December 30, 2009: Included in this list of the best outdoor activities people should partake in throughout 2010? Both mountain biking and road cycling! What’s on your outdoors learn-to-do list for 2010? Here’s where to start (Mike McQuaide, Seattle Times)

• December 30, 2009: The interesting looking Chariot Skates were designed as a combination of skiing and bicycling. Chariot Skates: half rollerblade, half chariot (Keffan Dolly, SlashGear)

• December 30, 2009: Edited by Evan Schneider and published by the nonprofit Wolverine Farm Publishing, this cycling almanac receives rave reviews from Biel in this post. Book review: The new issue of Boneshaker cycling almanac (Joel Biel, BikePortland.org)

• December 30, 2009: The Rock Hill Bicycle Club ventured out New Year’s Day for a 20-mile bike ride known as the Chilly Chili Ride. Rock Hill bicycle riders to brave chill on New Year’s morning (Shawn Cetrone, The Herald: Rock Hill)

• January 1, 2010: Now Sacramento people have more room to roam around on their bikes! Latest Miner’s Ravine Trail segment completed (Staff Writer, Sacramento Bee)

• January 2, 2010: What was one preschoolers New Year’s resolution? “I will always wear a helmet when bicycling.” Healthy New Year’s resolution for kids (Staff Writer, Tehran Times)

From innovations in cycling to common sense, Copenhagen to Hawaii and going green to going nude – Bicycling was a hot topic of discussion last week. Check out some of our favorite stories that made the news.

• December 14, 2009: Heading west, Marshall Wayne Lee and basset hound Antigone Puppleupagus ride on behalf of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and local basset hound rescues. Chicago man, dog on a life-saving bike adventure (Thomas Jenkins, Big Spring Herald)

• December 15, 2009: Washington native Dr. Scott Ramsey discusses how he got into cycling and the charity he rides for. Rider Profile: Dr. Scott Ramsey (David Longdon, Velocity: The Seattle Area Cycling Blog)

• December 15, 2009: Innovation in cycling – Using sensors and a Bluetooth connection, the Copenhagen wheel can talk to an iPhone mounted on the handlebars. The wheel can also monitor traffic conditions and smog and even keep track of your bicycling buddies. MIT unveils new ‘smart’ bike wheel (Lance Whitney, CNET: Crave)

• December 15, 2009: Congressman Earl Blumenauer posed what he called the “universalist bicycle mantra” during the Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around panel. Just put on a coat, already: Cyclists in a strange land (David Alpert, Greater Greater Washington)

• December 15, 2009: Bangalore cycling enthusiast, Vijay Sharma, will ride a bicycle handcrafted from bamboo to promote the ‘green’ cause. Now, a ‘green’ bicycle for cycling enthusiasts (Maitreyee Boruah, Sify News)

• December 16, 2009: This holiday season, Justin Fanslau will be riding a “lei” around the Big Island to support the advocacy efforts of PATH – Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii. Holiday Ride for Dollars (Press Release, Bicycle Retailer)

• December 17, 2009: Ross Kenney explains efforts in Seoul, South Korea, to make bicycling more popular. Reader Photos of the Week: Bike infrastructure in Seoul, South Korea (Elly Blue, BikePortland.org)

• December 18, 2009: Manny Diaz writes about helmets, safety and riding defensively for cyclists. Cycling, Helmets and Defensive Riding (Manny Diaz, InjuryBoard.com)

• December 18, 2009: The exhibition explores the biking habits of Copenhageners throughout the ages and focuses on the representation of bicycles in art, literature and popular music. Museum of Copenhagen exhibits Denmark’s bicycle history and culture (Russell, eNewsWire)

• December 18, 2009: A bike lane was removed in Brooklyn when conservative residents said they “can’t handle scantily clad women” on wheels. These activists planned to brave to cold and go topless to protest the removal. Bikers in the buff to protest NY bike lane removal (Verena Dobnik, The AP)

The winter doesn’t have to mean the end of the bicycling season. Take it from a Hipster – If you just bundle up, then you’ll be good to go! Check out last week’s cycling news around charities, festivals, fashion runways, fashion statements and more!

• December 5, 2009: Twitter allows bicycling enthusiasts to connect with one another. Tweeting isn’t just for the birds (Mary Cruse, Times-Standard)

• December 4, 2009: Tour de Fat is a free event, but the money raised from the sale of New Belgium beers and merchandise goes toward bicycle advocacy and environmental stewardship. New Belgium’s Tour de Fat Raised More than a Quarter-Million for Non-Profits in 2009 (Al Fresco, Bike World News)

• December 4, 2009: If you’re planning to get away from the cold weather this winter and head to Australia, check out these neat places that will get your blood pumping. Australia’s best bike rides (Simon Hayes, News.com.au)

• December 3, 2009: Decades of research and heartbreak back up helmet use as one of the best ways to keep favorite pastimes and activities from turning into tragedy. Helmet Use Proven Life-Saver (Peter Pappas, MD, Sports Coast Medicine & Healthy Living)

• December 3, 2009: Winterfest – a combination fundraiser, art show and bike party that celebrates the best of Bay Area bike culture. Winterfest 2009: Celebrating bicycle culture (Monica Nolan, San Francisco Chronicle)

• December 2, 2009: Bikes Belong has announced six fall grant awards that will help put more people on bicycles more often in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Bikes Belong Awards $50,000 in Grants (Press Release, Bicycle Retailer)

• December 2, 2009: Chris Carr started a non-profit organization called Wheels for Wells (@WheelsForWells on Twitter), which aims to raise $200,000 to provide clean drinking water for people in Africa. Bike ride across US to build wells in Africa (Rebekah Miller, The Waltonian)

• December 2, 2009: Check out the photo of the bicycling models sporting clothes by French designer Sonia Rykiel as part of her show for H&M in Paris Tuesday. Pictures of the Day (Thibault Camus, Associated Press)

• December 1, 2009: Over the last two years, Share A Cycle has provided about 90 bikes each year to local youth with Denver Kids, Inc. Extra bike lying around? Donate it to Share a Cycle (Susie Wargin, 9News.com)

• November 30, 2009: Hipsters make a statement by riding a bicycling in the winter months. Hipsters cycle for fashion (Rachelq Harman, The Argonaut)

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) this week’s post is all about being passionately pink for the cure – through bicycle riding! In case you feel like joining in to support the cause in the future, below are a few rides that you may want to start training for.

1. The Hershey Tour de Pink bicycle ride covers 200+ miles and benefits Young Survival Coalition (YSC), an international organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women and breast cancer. (Young Survival Coalition)

2. 85 percent of the proceeds the organization bike4breastcancer receives from its local Pink Ribbon Bike Rides go toward supporting breast cancer. The next local bicycle ride will be on Saturday, June 19, 2010 Boyne City, MI. (bike4breastcancer)

3. The Ride to Empower (going on now through October 25, 2009) in Red Rock, Nevada, is put on by the Network of Strength and travels through the Mojave Desert. (Network of Strength)

4. The Minnesota affiliate of the Susan G. Komen foundation is hosting Hartford Breast Cancer Ride August 7-8, 2010, which includes an overnight stay at the Treasure Island Resort and Casino. (Breast Cancer Ride)

5. Bell Sports sister company, Giro, released the Skyla Breast Cancer Awareness Helmet that you can rock on your next ride for the cure. (TheFind.com)

We all know someone that has been affected by breast cancer. So now that you know about the locations, the dates and the gear, you have no excuse to let your good intentions slip another year! Do you know of a ride to support the fight against breast cancer that we haven’t listed? Or have a story to share about your latest experience supporting the cause? Feel free to share – We’re all in this together.

This weekend, the season’s most popular Northern California ride, America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, will take place in Lake Tahoe.

What’s also special about this event is that this bike ride will largely benefit a great cause: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as part of the Team In Training cycling program. Season after season, Team In Training unites thousands of new and experienced cyclists and coaches them through months of training to be race-ready, all while raising funds for blood cancer research, education and patient services. The end result for those participating in this weekend’s event on behalf of Team In Training is not only an epic and scenic 72-mile ride around the lake, but also contributing funds to LLS to be used in its efforts to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

In addition to this weekend’s event in Tahoe, what’s nice to note about most large organized bike rides is that there are many worthy and honorable causes that receive added publicity and funding support from thousands of riders. For those that need some added motivation for biking, consider biking for a greater cause.

Here are a few additional June bike for a cause events around the nation that are also receiving chatter on twitter:

Ride for AIDS Chicago – June 6, benefiting the Test Positive Aware Network to raise funds for HIV/AIDS in the Chicago area.

Tour de Cure in Saratoga Spring, New York – June 7, benefiting the American Diabetes Association. Lots of twitterers are involved.

Healing Wheels Tour in Morristown, Colorado – June 13, benefiting Inner City Health Center, a non-profit clinic providing health services for the un- and under-insured in metro Denver.

Ride for Autism in Lincroft, New Jersey – June 13 benefiting Autism New Jersey, while raising community awareness about autism.

Are you participating in these events? Is there another cause that you are passionate about that we haven’t listed here?

Share in the comments or tweet at us @BellTrueFit and let us know!