About the Challenge

Dear FRIEND, 

I am riding in the 2023 Community Bike Works Cycle Challenge to the support the kids of Community Bike Works as they learn life lessons through bicycles. From October 1st to the 15th, my goal is to ride YOUR MILES GOAL miles in support of youth bike mentoring!

This ride means a lot to me. The funds we raise will support kids as they participate in Earn a Bike. Over a month of lessons, students learn how to repair a bike of their own while riding safely on city streets—all while learning important life skills like communication and teamwork. Each year nearly 600 students across the Lehigh Valley participate in these lessons and earn a bike and brand-new helmet of their own! Visit communitybikeworks.org to learn more about this great organization. 

Can I count on your support? Please donate to my fundraiser at YOUR PAGE.

If you prefer to donate via check  please use the mail-in donation form found at www.CommunityBikeWorks.org/cycle-challenge. Just write my name in the Rider Designation field and mail it along with your check to the address on the form. 

Your donation will support a very effective youth mentoring organization. At the end of the Challenge, we will see which teams and individuals raised the most funds and logged the most miles! 

“Riding my bike makes me feel calm. It’s mindfulness. And you can get exercise, so you get strong,” Ikhlas, 8, said after earning her bike. Thanks for helping me get active in support of Ikhlas and kids all across the Lehigh Valley!

Sincerely, 

YOUR NAME

Hey FRIEND, 

I am riding in the 2023 Community Bike Works Cycle Challenge!

Can I count on your support? Please make a donation to my ride at YOUR PAGE LINK.

A donation of any amount will help me reach my goal and support the kids of Bike Works as they learn life lessons through bikes. You can learn more at www.CommunityBikeWorks.org/cycle-challenge

Thanks so much for your support! 

FRIEND’S NAME—

Hi! I hope you are doing well.

I know that you ride your bike a lot these days, and so I wanted to ask: Would you be up for joining my Community Bike Works Cycle Challenge team?

The Challenge is Community Bike Works’ biggest fundraiser of the year and a critical way we raise funds to allow kids to participate in our Earn a Bike and other bike mentoring programs. The Challenge runs from Sunday, October 1st, through Sunday, October 15. For those 2 weeks, everyone on our team will ride (or walk, spin, jog, etc - It’s OK to ride an ebike!), in support of the kids of Bike Works. You’d pledge the number of miles you think you'll go, and the number of dollars per mile you would like to raise by asking friends and family to support your ride (We suggest a goal of $200, but that’s just a suggestion—the participation is the important part.) Then we get active! Over the 15 days of the Challenge, we’ll have incentives and other perks to keep things fun, and we have really cool medals and prizes for the teams with the most miles and donations. 

If you’d be up for joining me, I’d be thrilled! You can sign up at the Cycle Challenge site: https://charity.pledgeit.org/communitybikeworks and picking my team: XXXXXXXXX. FAQs are at: https://communitybikeworks.org/cycle-challenge and I’d be happy to answer questions.

It would be great to “ride” with you in this way. Thanks for considering!

Dear DONOR, 

Thank you so much for your donation to my Community Bike Works Cycle Challenge team.

Community Bike Works offers high quality mentoring programs that use bicycles to connect youth with caring adult and peer mentors. Each year, nearly 600 students across the Lehigh Valley complete Earn a Bike and Junior Earn a Bike, their flagship mentoring programs. 

Through it all, youth are learning skills that will help them succeed, especially that they can learn to do things that they didn’t think they could do before. Ralph, 15, is a student at Easton Area High School who recently completed Earn a Bike. Since then, Ralph has stayed involved in Bike Works' other enrichment programs, including Drop-in and cycling, and has received one-on-one mentoring. In his words:  

“I like coming here after school, being here with everyone, doing all the fun stuff we do. I like spending time with the wonderful people here. I learned how to work on bikes. I learned all the tool names. I got to use the screwdrivers. I really like riding bikes, working on bikes, playing games...just being here with nice and great people. I'm a positive influence on younger kids. I feel happiness when I talk about Bike Works.”  

Your donation will directly support Community Bike Works' youth mentoring programs. Thank you so much for making a difference in a child's life! 

You were sent a welcome email with a direct link to your page, but you can also get there from the campaign page HERE. Log in on the top right, then click the “My Page” tab. 

To see all the tools at your disposal, be sure you’re logged in. On your fundraising page, if you see the profile avatar on the top right, you’re logged in. If you see “Sign In” instead, go ahead and do so. 

You can adjust your photos, story, contact info, goals, and more. On a computer, click the “Edit Page” button under the large cover photo. On a phone, click the settings icon at the top, then the black “Edit” button. 

To share your fundraising page with friends and family, use the “Share” button (under your fundraising progress wheel). Choose a social network to share to, or choose “Copy page URL” to copy the direct link to your page.

You’ll find this at the top of your page on your computer and the bottom on your phone. You can post questions, ideas, and inspiration to the rest of the campaign community and scroll through everyone else’s posts. 

Go here to send pre-written email requests inviting people to donate to your page, track who has donated, and thank your donors. 'Thank you' verbiage is drafted above!

You may or may not see a tab for Activity. If you do, this is where you can record the activity you perform, and link a Strava account! You can add comments, photos, or other media, and choose whether to send your update to your donors.