Life is better for everyone when more people ride bikes.

For Colleen Alexander, riding her bike is a miracle. Every day is a miracle, in fact, because in 2011 she was hit by a freight truck that did not yield at a stop sign while riding her bike on a routine training ride. She flatlined twice, spent 5 weeks in a coma and has undergone more than 20 surgeries since that day, but that has not stopped her from riding her bike. She’s a triathlete and has completed more than a dozen triathlons, including 4 half Ironman races since she was hit.

From the streets to the Statehouse, social change isn’t just the domain of adults. Aided by the rise of social media and standing on the shoulders of youth movements for civil rights, young people are rocking the vote and rethinking how our communities can work for everyone. And many of them see bikes as a transformative tool. Recognizing that power and potential, the Youth Bike Summit has evolved from a single event to a national movement in just five years. It’s not only united thousands of diverse and dynamic individuals and organizations, but started a dialog about the way we view bike advocacy and movement leadership. Instead of being a token voice or an inviting image for a campaign brochure, young people are being empowered by Youth Bike leaders to create their own initiatives and inform advocacy work from their own unique experiences.

Tom Glover, president and CEO of Cogentes, an IT services company in Milledgeville, Georgia, is an avid cyclist and president of the local bicycling club. Since cycling was such an integral part of his life and of his family’s, it only seemed natural to make it part of his business too.

Welcome to National Bike Month 2015! Sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, National Bike Month is a 31-day celebration of travel by two wheels. Communities big and small are hosting bike-centered events, teaching bike education classes, voting on resolutions to deem May Bike Month in their towns and much more.