Do you remember your first bike? I bet you do. Like your first car, your first kiss or any other momentous ‘firsts’ in our lives, the memory is etched deep into our brain’s cortex. Mine was an off-white Schwinn step-through cruiser, a hand-me-down from my older sister. The neighborhood kids teased me mercilessly about riding a “girl’s bike”. I didn’t care. I loved that thing. I thought it was beautiful.

Famous Athletes love to give away bicycles to kids. It’s a generous idea, with positive and immediate impact. After seeing a tweet about a NFL star giving away bikes to a school yard full of kids, another infamous athlete wished out loud that one day, she too would be able to play Bike Oprah. You get a bike, and you get a bike, and, well, you get the idea.

Little did Amanda know that we have been giving away a kid’s bike for every Karmic that we sell. The first year was quite modest, just a handful of bikes, to a handful of local kids. Again, teachers and community leaders helped us find the deserving young kids and their parents. They always seem to know who could use a bit of extra holiday cheer at the end of the year. I think we only did 6 or 10 bikes that first time. Last year we gave away over 200 bikes.

America’s Automotive Advertising loves to sell you the idea of freedom, as if most cars aren’t just sitting in traffic. True freedom is found on two-wheels, and sadly a whole generation (or two?) has missed out on this joy. We’re doing our best to bring it back. Imagine a neighborhood full of kids riding to school, exploring the far reaches of the woods in the Summer, riding forgotten trails or blazing new paths. They might get a few skinned knees trying out that dirt jump, or even a broken arm going way too fast down the biggest hill in town. Imagine if they didn’t get to experience any of that.

Like LeBron James, I believe every kid should get a bike. Until Nike comes knocking on the door with a $1B lifetime contract, we’ll just have to stick to our one-for-one plan. We call it the Karmic Gifted Program. But the real gift is the feelings these kids give to us. If you’ve purchased a Karmic Bike, you’ve already donated a bike. If you’d like to donate any amount to help purchase additional bikes, you can click the link above. While we’re not an official 501(c)3 organization yet, rest assured every dollar donated will be exclusively applied towards kids bikes.

Thanks for reading all this. It means a lot to me. Be well, Be Karmic.