Gearing up youth biking in Leelanau County

By Chris Loud

Sun contributor

In Leelanau County, kids who do not have access to a bike now have options, thanks to groups like Bike Leelanau, Northport Strong, and Norte, and the generous support of local businesses like McLain Cycles and Suttons Bay Bikes. The new Leelanau County Bike Library now makes it easy for ANY family to borrow a bike and get their kids rolling, just by filling out a simple form online.

Bike Leelanau manages the Leelanau Bike Library, now stocked with over 100 bikes for youth riders. Bike Leelanau was formed to help build an inclusive community of riders, advocate for the creation of trails in Leelanau County, and maintain the trails through the formation and training of volunteer crews. Co-founders Cody Sprattmoran and Molly Steck worked with Kris Mclain of Mclain Cycles to create the Bike Library.

Sprattmoran was surprised at how quickly the Bike Library concept took shape. “While Bike Leelanau had hopes to eventually start a Leelanau Bike Library,” said Sprattmoran, “it was a one or two year down the road plan, certainly nothing we imagined that we would be able to accomplish in the first year of our organization’s existence.”

McLain Cycle & Fitness is owned by Traverse City natives Kris and Bob McLain. There are two store locations in Traverse City and one in Cadillac. This year they are celebrating their 40th year in business, and they were recently selected as one of America’s best bike shops. This will be the sixth year Mclain Cycle & Fitness received this designation.

Kris Mclain speaks about the origin of the collaboration with Bike Leelanau. “I met up with Cody this summer when we gave some gently used kids bikes for a summer reading program in Northport. I talked to her about the idea of the bike library in Leelanau County, which has been successful in Traverse City with the Norte Youth Cycling group. She hit the ground running and made it happen. She recently picked up 31 kids bikes so we have donated over 80 kids in total for the library. So awesome!”

Sprattmoran and Bike Leelanau also received support from Suttons Bay Bikes. “Sutton Bay Bikes quickly contacted us and said they would match donations up to 6 bikes. We received 6 monetary donations within the space of 48 hours,” said Sprattmoran. “Suttons Bay Bikes saw the community support and upped their donation to 10 balance bikes. Thanks to donations from local businesses, community members, supporters from downstate, out of state, and internationally, we have 20 additional balance bikes on order.”

In addition, villages like Northport are creating a safer bike environment, so kids can bike to school and around the neighborhood more often. Initiatives like these around the region are putting more kids on bikes in Leelanau County, and creating a healthier and more environmentally friendly lifestyle. While those are great aspects that any community would be proud of, the benefits go far beyond.

Ty Schmidt is co-founder of Norte, a northern Michigan nonprofit “dedicated to building stronger, better connected and more walk/bike friendly communities by empowering the young and young at heart.” He is a strong believer in the power of the bike. “Kids learning to move and be physically active as part of ordinary life – like biking to school or the library or the park – and then inspiring their parents, teachers, principals, and neighbors to do the same is, in my opinion, a powerful means to sustainable community health in Leelanau County.” Together with his co-founder, and wife, Johanna, they have become a prolific advocate and trusted source for youth bike culture in Traverse City, and beyond.

Schmidt puts in perspective how the advantages of an amped up youth bike culture in Leelanau County can enhance the community into the future. “Independent, happy, confident, ready to learn youth are empowered to be guardians of their health, develop lifelong habits to move more, sit less, and be leaders in their community. Norte is proud to help administer Northport’s Safe Routes To School initiative and we are looking forward to partnering with other Leelanau communities to empower students of all ages and abilities to be active for life.”

Sprattmoran of Bike Leelanau was thankful for the local support. “When Norte asked us to partner with them, and NPS, to bring The Northport Strong Project on line we jumped at the opportunity. It’s been inspiring to watch the work Corrine and Alex are doing in Northport to get kids on bikes, active, and outside.”

The Northport Strong project is working with Norte, and other groups like Bike Leelanau, to ensure these programs are working for their local community. Corrine Wetherbee of Northport Strong is helping bring a more sustainable and active lifestyle to Northport. “As an educator and a parent I am passionate about keeping our youth active and outdoors as much as possible. It is my hope that the Northport Strong Project will help young people build interests and skills around these activities that carry over into adulthood, promoting healthy habits and lifestyles.”

In our efforts to foster these healthy habits at Northport Public School we have built a balance bike collection, which we use with our preschool and Kindergarten students, as well as a fleet of mountain bikes that we use for the Bike Mas Project, all generously donated by McLain Cycle & Fitness. Currently our implementation of the Northport Strong Project includes: Fridays Fantasticos, Winter Walk Wednesdays, Bike Mas Project, and National Bike/Walk to School Days.”

Sprattmoran and Bike Leelanau are looking ahead to keep the progress going. “Looking down the road we’d love to ensure that every kid in Leelanau County has access to high quality bikes as well as bike programing. We’ve been in initial conversations with Norte on how to expand Norte’s presence in Leelanau County. We’re working with two local Parks and Recs Commissions to ensure that there are Leelanau County parks that are open to biking, and that these parks include bike related amenities.”

For Spattmoran, it’s a personal passion that goes beyond a love for biking. “It’s a privilege to be doing this work. While getting my haircut the other day I heard from a parent about how access to the Leelanau Bike Library has gotten their entire family out on bikes in a way that they hadn’t previously. The mom is now looking for a bike that will enable her to keep up with her son. These stories are what Bike Leelanau is about, providing opportunities for families to discover a love of biking, and a new way of engaging with Leelanau County.”

For more information on these programs and upcoming events, check out these resources:

• Norte’s Safe Routes to School in Northport

• Bike Leelanau & the Bike Library