Riding For Focus (R4F)

The industry standard for school cycling program is the Outride Fund which runs its R4F Program in 230 schools across the United States and Canada serving over 50,000 students annually.

On March 11, 2022, Cottonwood Community School (CCS) received 25 Specialized Rock Hoppers and Centro helmets to implement the Outride Fund’s R4F Program as part of CCS’ middle school physical education class.

CCS PE teachers received training and curriculum from the Outride Fund as the result of a 2021 grant awarded by the Outride Fund.

The bikes were received by the Verde Valley Bicycle Company (VVBC) on March 10th and were assembled and transported to the school 24 hours later. Thank you Greg and all the VVBC staff and volunteers who made this happen.

FUN and Outride launched R4F at Mountain View Preparatory and Oak Creek School in the fall of 2022. The Wheel Fun team was able to get more kids on two wheels by using available bike club resources and ordering new bikes to meet growing school and student demand.

The industry standard for school cycling program is the Outride Fund which runs its R4F Program in 230 schools across the United States and Canada serving over 50,000 students annually. The R4F curriculum was developed in 2016 and is a living document that is continually improved and updated over time as research, programmatic data collection, and outcomes from the below design goals and criteria are realized.

R4F design goals to:

  • Equip students for safe, effective use of cycling for lifelong well-being
  • Refine a program that documents results and continues to improve through data collection and best practices
  • Positively impacts the quality of instruction provided by professionals
  • Positively influence physical activity curricula across the country

R4F was designed to align with these criteria:

  • Based on important outcomes
  • Consistent with the body of knowledge of bicycling education and bicycling skills
  • Systematic
  • Effective – documentable
  • Replicable
  • Adaptable to changes in contexts
  • Cutting edge

The curriculum strives to meet these criteria through specifically designed elements within the training, ongoing updates and evaluation, data collection, and continued program support.