What an amazing year! With generous support, we have quadrupled our impact from 2023! Our mission is to inspire more people to ride their bikes, whether that's for fun or for commuting to work or the store. Our vision is to have the infrastructure that supports safer and more comfortable biking.
Sanpete County is the heart of Utah. It's a Hallmark community that prides itself on the small-town charm and close community ties. Being able to walk, bike, and roll safely and conveniently to daily destinations is key to keeping that small-town charm we know and love so much, even as we grow.
Our initiative is to bring the community together, strengthen bonds between friends and family and the larger community, and create equitable access to places whether someone is walking, biking, or rolling. We believe this is crucial to strengthen the resiliency and well-being of our community.
I founded Cycle Sanpete a few years ago after the birth of my daughter. Even as an adult, I still love to ride my bike. However, after my daughter was born, my perspective changed, and I realized just how critically important it was that Sanpete take steps to increase safety for families to enjoy time outside on our bikes through infrastructure improvements, education, and awareness. It's crucial that we plan and invest in a safer tomorrow!
I’m so grateful to all of our amazing board members, volunteers, city leadership, and donors who contributed to an amazing year.
Community Activities
Our community activities are meant to be a fun way for the community to come together, strengthen community ties, and inspire people to get out on their bikes in a meaningful way.Â
Happy City Book Club: January
We held our annual book club event featuring the book Happy City by Charles Montgomery. This book is all about how happiness can stem from how a city is designed. It's a great read to learn more about how city planning and engineering can shape our lives for the better or worse.Â
The Street Project: March
We partnered with Snow College Theatre Department for a film screening. This film was about the global-citizen fight to make streets safer for people. You can watch this film at the Snow College library or on YouTube.
Trail Clean-Up: April
We visited the White Hills Management area for a fun clean-up day. We groomed the mountain bike trails to make them accessible for summer riding.
Ephraim City Bike Rodeo: May
We reached out to the Ephraim City Police Department to collaborate on a bike rodeo where we talked about bike and street safety and had a big giveaway. We gave away helmets, bike bells, lights, and more. Hot dogs and drinks were also provided by the department.
Bike Maintenance Workshop: September
In September, we held our first-ever Bike Maintenance Workshop. Indigo Bikes, the new bike store in Manti, volunteered to help teach people how to fix their bikes and assisted them along the way. Search and Rescue and a few community citizens also came out to volunteer. We estimate that we fixed up about 15 bikes! The Utah Central Health Department in Manti allowed us to host the event in their parking lot and give away helmets. Luke Rowley, Manti’s Rec Director, also discussed the importance of bike and street safety. We were also able to give away helmets, bike pumps, tools, and more. This was a really awesome event, and we have plans to expand to Ephraim and North Sanpete next year. These events will also be improved with additional bike giveaways, food, drinks, and fun.
Community Rides
Community rides aim to not only be a positive experience while bringing people together, but we hope to inspire biking to become a natural way of life for Sanpeters. Biking is a great way to meet your neighbors, improve health and fitness, reduce traffic and congestion, improve air quality, and maintain that small-town feel we love.
Mountain Bike Community Rides: April & May
We held three fun community mountain bike rides that brought the community together. It’s fun to see adults and their kids getting together in nature in fun and healthy ways. We had a variety of family-friendly rides and donuts afterward, as well as more challenging rides for intermediate riders.
Mother’s Day Flower Ride: May
On Mother’s Day, we delivered 12 flowers to mothers around Manti on our bikes. This was deeply meaningful, as mothers who were living alone, ill, or low in spirits were still able to receive a flower and feel remembered and cherished on this holiday. Women reached out to us later to tell us just how much the flower meant to them. This was our second year doing this, and we plan to grow to more cities in Sanpete in the future.
Manti Moms Community Bike Ride: July
This was a fun bike ride that brought Manti moms together for a ride around town. We finished at Charlee’s Comfort Kitchen for lemonade, which was covered by Cycle Sanpete. We sat outside on the picnic tables, spending the evening chatting and connecting.
Mt. Pleasant Community Bike Ride: September
We went for a family-friendly bike ride around Mt. Pleasant and stopped for ice cream at the Mt. Pleasant Mercantile, followed by pizza at Main Street Pizza. Both the pizza and ice cream were generously covered by Cycle Sanpete and Keith Kasperson with The Majesty Real Estate Group.Â
Bicycle Incentive Program
This program offers free treats, meals, or drinks at partnering eateries in Sanpete County if you ride your bike over! One of our favorite programs, our aim is to support local businesses while getting people out on their bikes in a really fun way.
In 2023, we inspired just under 200 bike rides. In 2024, we inspired over 705 bike rides—a 300% increase! Maybe in 2025, we can inspire almost 3,000 rides, reflecting another 300% increase? We’ll get there!
Here is a snapshot of what was offered in 2024:
Ride your bike to Dr. Inks for a free soft cookie and warm drink – 4 bike rides
*Sponsored by Keith Kasperson, with the Majesty Real Estate Group
Ride your bike to Charlee’s Comfort Kitchen for a free lemonade – 250 bike rides
Ride your bike to Roots 89 for a free root beer – 134 bike rides
Ride your bike to Mt. Pleasant Mercantile for a free single scoop of ice cream – 272 bike rides
*Sponsored by Keith Kasperson, with the Majesty Real Estate Group
Ride your bike to Charlee’s Comfort Kitchen for a free $5 Hangry meal – 45 bike rides
*Sponsored by Keith Kasperson, with the Majesty Real Estate Group
We believe supporting our local eateries is crucial, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Restaurants are the heart of community gathering, culture, and historic roots. We hope to keep growing this program. Our vision is that one day, when you drive through Sanpete, you’ll see bikes everywhere at our local restaurants. In the future, we also would like to be able to help build Bike Rest Stations at partnering eateries. Stations may include tools to fix up bikes, shade and shelter, seating, lights, music, and other community building features.
Education and Advocacy
This is a big one. Did you know every year, we lose 4–6 people within Sanpete County road boundaries? Additionally, in 2021, Sanpete suffered 13 severe crashes. In 2022, we experienced 24 severe crashes, nearly doubling the previous year. In 2024, we faced 17 severe accidents.
These statistics are devastating. Data suggests the biggest factors contributing to these fatalities and severe crashes are speeding, driving under the influence, and distracted driving.
Being a small town and close-knit community, these people are our loved ones—our friends, families, and valuable members of our community. We must make our community safer for walking, biking, rolling, and driving.
Ephraim Active Transportation: May
We helped Ephraim City obtain planning assistance through Bike Utah. Bike Utah posted an online survey, came out for a tour on bikes, and also held a community input session dedicated to gathering feedback on how Ephraim City can make it safer and more enjoyable for families to walk, bike, and roll. This is critically important for increasing quality of life for all and improving economic development opportunities. Bike Utah is currently putting together an active transportation plan for Ephraim City to adopt in 2025.
Manti Active Transportation: May
We helped Manti City obtain planning assistance through Bike Utah to create more robust safe routes to Manti Elementary School. An updated plan is critically important to help obtain future funding for safety improvements. This plan is currently under review and should be finalized early 2025. We would love to see more kids walking and biking to school!
Sanpete Regional Multi-use Trail
We are advocating for a two-way, family-friendly, ultra-safe bike path extending from Fairview to Gunnison, covering approximately 47 miles. This project has received tremendous support. Last year, Spring City, Utah, secured a $750,000 grant from the Department of Transportation (DOT) (we assisted with the grant application) to conduct a feasibility study to determine the exact route. The study is evaluating options along US 89 and parallel routes.
Once the route is developed and approved, our goal is to secure construction funding available through DOT or state resources. We aim to ensure the trail is accessible and connects people to key destinations, such as stores, parks, schools, and more. You can view some letters of support here.
Jones & DeMille has been hired to conduct the study, and as part of the project leadership team, we are deeply involved in the process. Jones & DeMille will host community input workshops in the spring of 2025. Be sure to follow us on Facebook for important updates!
Snow College Bike Share and Bike Path Network
We worked with Ephraim City to apply for a DOT planning grant to fund a feasibility study for a network of bike paths around the Snow College campus and other key destinations in Ephraim. This study would also explore potential locations for a bike share program, giving students another way to get around town. While we didn’t secure the grant this year, the project was deemed one of merit and will be considered as a top application for 2025!
Educational Booths
We also participated in fairs to educate the public on bike and street safety, including crosswalk laws, visibility, and safe driving practices.
City Council Meetings
We attended several city council meetings over the past year to express our gratitude for our leaders working towards a more bike-friendly future. We also want city officials to consider people-friendly infrastructure as Sanpete continues to grow. Did you know that Ephraim is expected to double in size in the next few years? We hope that Ephraim City will prioritize protected multi-use trails at the Ephraim Crossing development as well. Equal access to transportation options (walking, biking, rolling, or driving) is one of the best ways to ensure community resilience, reduce undue hardship, and promote equality.
Conclusion
So overall, we held 11 community events, activities, and rides. We partnered with 4 restaurants for the bicycle incentive program, inspiring over 705 bike rides! We also participated in 7 advocacy initiatives to increase safety for all.Â
Cycle Sanpete has a board of 5 amazing ladies. You can learn more about our board here. We are all volunteers, sacrificing time to make Sanpete a safer and more accessible place to walk, bike, and roll.
If you would like to support our impact and help us go farther, please give us a boost by donating today. 100% of your money goes to putting on fun activities for the community.
Thank you! We love our community and we are really looking forward to 2025! With support we can offer more community events and activities, inspire more families to ride their bikes to local eateries, and continue working towards a safer and more equitable community.
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