Osprey was introduced to 88Bikes when we first entered the bike industry with our Osprey Hydraulics™ line of hydration packs. Their model is simple yet incredibly powerful: provide bikes — often the first — to young people living in challenging environments across the planet. In places like Cambodia, Uganda and Peru the addition of a bicycle to a young person’s life almost always is a life-changing event.

It’s undeniably the season of giving, which can equate to added stress over finding the right thing to give the ones you love. The good news is, if you want to embrace the spirit of the season and gift up something meaningful, it’s easy. Through the non-profit 88bikes, you can donate a bike to a child in the name of your special someone and know that you’re quite simply helping to pedal change on a global level.

Want a little more background? Here’s how 88bikes gift-giving works, directly via the non-profit’s site itself:

Bike contributions are $88 each, which will be used to purchase one bike for one child for the project. Your name will be added to the website, and we ask that you send a photo of yourself to us by email so that we can print it out and give it to the child who receives your bike. We’ll take a picture of the child holding your photo, with her new bike, and send this back to you. 88bikes is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and your donations are fully tax deductable. 88bikes does not maintain a staff or an office, so that 100% of your contributions go towards our projects.

You can choose to donate a specific dollar amount, one bike or multiple bikes by going here. You can even print your own gift certificate to personalize and wrap up for the holidays yourself. However you choose to donate, 100 percent of your donation goes to the cause. What’s more, “Each child is given his or her bike in person by the founders or an 88bikes volunteer, on behalf of the individual Sponsor who donated the bike. The child is also given a postcard with a photo of their Sponsor and a world map, indicating the Sponsor’s hometown. Photos and film of the project are made available to the Sponsors, and each Sponsor receives a thank-you letter with a photo of the child who received their bike.”

Adventure, Advocacy, Bikes Around the World, Non-profits, Pedaling Change 88bikes, donate, gift, pedal change

It’s that time of year again: National Geographic Adventure has nominated ten individuals to stand in the running for 2013 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year. This year in particular, we’re incredibly proud to announce that the outstanding Shannon Galpin of Mountain2Mountain is one of the Adventurer of the Year nominees — and you can vote for her now!

M2M, which Shannon founded in 2006, “believes in the power of voice as a catalyst for social action,” and has touched the lives of many since its inception. In its latest project, Streets of Afghanistan, M2M utilizes the power of photography as the voice of change.

In 2009, Shannon became the first woman to bike in Afghanistan, challenging societal norms and gender perceptions in that part of the world. In general, Shannon’s work has seriously highlighted the significance of perpetuating equality for women and girls in conflict regions, and will continue to impact generations to come.

For good reason, Shannon is nominated as Humanitarian of the year. Via Nat Geo Adventure:

The 38-year-old has braved some of the most violent periods in Afghanistan—a country considered by many humanitarian agencies to be the worst place in the world to be a woman—to work on women’s education and health. She fostered midwife training to combat infant and maternal mortality in the Panjshir Province. In Kabul and Kandahar, she helped develop reading programs for the daughters of women in prisons, some of whom were jailed for adultery after they were raped or for escaping arranged marriages.

She has used her bicycle as an icebreaker with village elders in remote mountain villages, and in a particularly bold fundraising act, she’s mountain biked 140 miles across the Panjshir Valley. In Afghanistan, women cannot ride bikes because of laws and social customs, a fact that Galpin believes has hindered women’s education by preventing them from being able to independently travel to school. As a foreign woman, Galpin was able to cross this boundary and turn it into a conversation starter.

Women’s rights are personal for Galpin. At 19, she survived being raped and knifed while coming home from work in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“I couldn’t think of anything worse beyond what had happened than being labeled a victim,” says Galpin. “I was petrified that I would be viewed that way and would have to wear that label for the rest of my life.”

Want to vote for Shannon Galpin? Go here to do so through mid-January.

Active Lifestyle, Adventure, Advocacy, Bikes Around the World, Events, International, Non-profits, Osprey Life, Pedaling Change, Photos, The Cycling Buzz Humanitarian, mountain2mountain, National Geographic Adventure, People's Choice Adventurer of the Year, shannon galpin, Streets of Afghanistan, Vote

Imagine a bike that costs $20; is made entirely out of cardboard; is waterproof and fireproof; and that is as strong as any bike you’d want to ride. Now, watch the above video and see it.

According to a Reuters article, 50-ear-old Izhar Gafni is the man behind this brand-new bike, which is now in line to begin undergoing mass production in just a few months. Of course, it took Gafni a year and a half of testing, trial and error to create the prototype we see today. From the article:

“‘When we started, a year and a half or two years ago, people laughed at us, but now we are getting at least a dozen e-mails every day asking where they can buy such a bicycle, so this really makes me hopeful that we will succeed,” he said.”

What do you think of the cardboard bike? Would you buy one and, more significantly, ride it? Let us know what you think!

Pedaling Change, The Cycling Buzz, Video bike, cardboard, Israel, Izhar Gafni

Our friends over at 5 Gyres are always doing amazing things. Most recently they’ve embarked on The Last Straw Plastic Pollution Solutions Outreach Tour — a trip that will take 5 Gyres staff 1400 miles by bike down the East Coast in an effort to educate more than 50,000 people about what they’ve discovered in their voyages to our world’s oceans and lakes. You can follow the tour and find specific event dates and locations via the 5 Gyres Facebook page and its Blog. What’s more, you can pledge one cent per mile to support the tour and even take part in the 5 Gyres I Am The Sea Change challenge and win prizes for doing so.

Have 5 minutes? Take the challenge!:

To enter, follow the instructions on the flyer pictured above. That is: 1. Print the flyer out. 2. Spend at the very least 5 minutes cleaning up your environment (street, gutter, riverbank, beach). 3. Have someone take a picture of you holding your sign and your garbage up for all to see. 4. Like 5 Gyres on Facebook and share the contest link (encouraging friends and family to do so as well!) 5. Email your photo to betheseachange@5gyres.org with the subject ’5 for 5 Gyres’.

Do the above and you could not only win some awesome prizes, but help 5 Gyres and the cause to clean up our environment immensely. The contest runs from October 3rd through November 6th.

Advocacy, Contest, Events, Non-profits, Pedaling Change, Travel 5 for 5 Gyres, 5 Gyres, bike, challenge, contest, environment, I Am The Sea Change, photo, plastic pollution, river

The incredible organization known as 5 Gyres is about to embark on its latest outreach project: Last Straw Plastic Solutions Bicycle Outreach Tour. The Tour will take the team of 5 Gyres staff on a cross-country bicycle route where they’ll share stories of their 5 Gyres expeditions along the way; “doing trainings on how to enact common sense plastic mitigation policy, sharing film, networking, and… running a cleanup contest throughout the tour for a chance to win prizes from all our awesome sponsors!,” according to the 5 Gyres blog.

Check out the poster above for dates and details of the tour. And feel free to email 5 Gyres with any questions along the way!

Want to help but can’t follow the Tour? Take the Plastic Promise right here, right now.

Active Lifestyle, Adventure, Advocacy, Bikes Around the World, Events, Non-profits, Osprey Life, Pedaling Change, Travel 5 Gyres, bike tour, cleanup, Plastic, Plastic Promise, pollution

So many reasons to bike, so many benefits to cycling. So, get out and ride!

Found on SF Bike Expo‘s Facebook Page.

Advocacy, Lane Love, Pedaling Change bike, cost, free, gas, pedal

Watch. Relate. Smile.

Found on Filme von Draussen‘s Vimeo.

Active Lifestyle, Adventure, Osprey Life, Pedaling Change, Video bike, mountain bike, Vimeo

Ever get that nagging feeling that the grass is greener on the other side? Do you sometimes catch yourself looking ever so slightly at other bikes in the neighborhood? Then it might behoove you to explore this infographic created by REI to make sure you’re in the right bike relationship.

Have fun with it!

Active Lifestyle, Pedaling Change, Photos bike, cyclist, infographic, REI

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Olympic Games in London, the traffic is — as you might expect — a little bit worse than usual. So, what’s a city to do to keep the flow of everything up to par?

London UPS fleets in particular have deployed delivery bikes to make necessary delay-free deliveries to areas affected by heavy traffic.

According to BikeBiz, “Extended bike fleet will be in use in the capital after the Olympics too, logistics firm says.” Also according to the site:

“Bicycles were actually a foundation to our business over 100 years ago; when a few messenger boys began the business which became UPS today,” said Cindy Miller, MD for UPS UK, Ireland and Nordics. “We’re excited to add them to our UK fleet at such a critical time for London’s businesses.”

As cities around the world battle heavier and heavier traffic, we wonder if all delivery fleets shouldn’t consider having at least a few bicycles ready to rip through the city streets via less crowded bike lanes. What are your thoughts?

PHOTO Via: loop_oh

Advocacy, Bike Europe, Pedaling Change bike, bike messenger, Europe, London, Olympics, UPS

Keep it local is a statement typically seen in regards to food — but it seems equally as fitting for the transportation funds that contribute to each community’s safe bike routes and bicycle structure systems. The problem facing local bike funding is this, according to peopleforbikes.org:

“During recent negotiations on a new transportation bill, the House of Representatives proposed drastic cuts that would hurt bicycling. Their plan would allow states to take federal transportation funds that make roads safer for bicycling and divert them to other uses, without any input from communities like yours.”

The proposed bill would eliminate the funds necessary for your local community to propose and flesh out ideas for safer bike transportation, which would basically halt any future concepts and eliminate the potential for further growth and increased bike transportation options. Of course that’s not something any of us want, so here’s what you can do, right now: Follow this link to the peopleforbikes.org page that explains everything in a nutshell. Then, get in touch with your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative by going here and entering your local information. You’ll be able to write an email urging government to take back the proposal, and send it all via the second link listed above. Send it now to take action and keep bike funding local!

PHOTO Via: peopleforbikes.org

Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!

Active Lifestyle, Advocacy, Ditch Your Car, Pedaling Change bike funding, ditch your car, government, transportation