Two high school triathletes are expanding a nonprofit organization, based in Alpharetta, coast-to-coast to ensure children from all financial backgrounds have access to free bicycle training, safety gear and equipment.
Rising high school seniors Jonathan Tye and Jake Judge created the Pedal Forward Foundation to offer entirely free bicycle training camps for children.
The program specifically helps kids who do not have access to bicycles, safety gear or riding lessons.
The camp operates by utilizing donated bicycles, which ensures that participants do not need to bring their own equipment to learn. The program helps children build personal confidence while mastering essential balance and pedaling skills.
It remains unclear how many donated bicycles the group plans to bring during their upcoming summer trip to rural Vietnam.
The co-founders are active triathletes who view cycling as an essential lifeline rather than a simple hobby.
They decided to step in after discovering a local corporate training program shut down in January 2025.
The closure left a significant void for area families who relied on the lessons to gain the riding experience necessary to travel to grocery stores or reach local jobs.
Recognizing a widening financial gap between families who can afford cycling equipment and those who cannot, they launched the starter program to keep children from being left behind.
The neighborhood camps are powered almost entirely by local teenagers who handle the training and peer encouragement.
The structure allows local youth to directly invest in the physical literacy and safety of children within their communities. The founders are currently scaling the nonprofit across the country while simultaneously preparing for an international donation trip to deliver bicycles to children in rural Vietnam.
“We discovered that REI shut down their bike training programs,” Executive Director Jonathan Tye said. “They gave a lot of families in our area the riding experience that they needed to be able to go to the grocery store or, you know, get a job, especially for the young kids.”
Senior Director Jake Judge explained that they wanted an open option for the community. “We realized that there’s like a big gap between people who can afford to learn how to ride bikes and people who just can’t,” Judge said.
“My first time volunteering was about a couple of months ago, and I just love doing it,” volunteer Luke Kovak said. “I love seeing the little kids just learn how to ride, going over the little obstacles.”
Young rider Rebecca Vangodtsenhoven noted that her favorite part of the day was “Going zig-zag on all the cones!”
“Seeing the smile and seeing that empowerment is just what makes all this work worthwhile,” Tye said.
