Update · October 2026
The UCI recognizes HopOn
On September 25, at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, UCI President David Lappartient presented Cycling Canada with a Certificate of Recognition for HopOn. The Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes (FQSC), which runs the program in Québec as Embarquez, was recognized alongside it.
I am profoundly grateful. A program that began with bikes and helmets in BC school gyms has now been honoured by cycling’s world governing body, at the World Championships. This recognition belongs to the instructors, teachers, schools, clubs, partners and families who have kept it rolling since 2013, and to my colleagues at Cycling BC and Cycling Canada who believed in it from the start. Thank you.
In Cycling BC’s words, HopOn is “a games-based cycling program that teaches school-aged kids across Canada the joy of cycling safely.”
Before it was HopOn, it was iRide, Cycling BC’s school cycling program. I spent 11 years at Cycling BC, from 2014 to 2025, and helped coordinate, manage and then direct the program as it grew from about 1,000 students a year to more than 10,000 kids a year, and then into Canada’s national grassroots program.
Here’s what HopOn is, how it started and grew, and how your kids, school or club can be part of it.
- Games-based
- Skill, ride, game
- Bikes and helmets at school
- Ages 6–16
- Since 2013
What HopOn looks like
Every session
A skill lesson, a ride and a game
Kids learn by playing. Games let them discover for themselves which movements help them master a skill.
In school
Three days in gym class
In BC, a three-day program for grades 4 to 6 on the school grounds, with bikes and helmets provided. Students start with straight-line riding and braking, then move on to cornering and riding with a partner.
After school and beyond
A pathway into the sport
Community programs and camps across Canada for kids aged 6 to 16. Students who show real enthusiasm can receive a Talent ID card that invites them to after-school programs, summer camps and local youth clubs.
HopOn instructors are trained, go through background screening and follow the Responsible Coaches Movement, so parents and teachers can trust who is on the field with their kids.
How it started and grew
2013iRide launches
Cycling BC launches iRide and brings bikes, helmets and trained instructors into school gyms. The Burnaby Velodrome has been a partner from the very beginning.
2015On the road
iRide takes the program on the road. In June 2015 it visited Grade 8 and 9 students at Whistler Secondary for two days of safety skills, challenging games and a ride on the local trails.
Video: Cycling BC, “iRide @ Whistler Secondary” (52 seconds).
201810,000 a year
Thanks to sponsors and donors, iRide visits another 10,000 kids in a single year, for a total of 45,000 kids coached across BC since 2013.
Video: Cycling BC, “iRide: 2018 Appreciation Video” (2.5 minutes).
2019How it grew
A short narrated presentation from Cycling BC on how its youth programs grew from 2013, published at the end of 2019.
Video: Cycling BC, iRide expansion presentation (about 3 minutes).
2021HopOn goes national
Cycling BC shares its instructor training and game-based curriculum with other provinces, and Cycling Canada launches HopOn, a national grassroots program modelled on iRide, in eight provinces and territories.
Video: Cycling Canada, “Introducing our HopOn Program” (under 3 minutes).
2022iRide becomes HopOn
iRide takes on the national HopOn name in British Columbia. One name for one program across the country.
202375,000 youth
Cycling BC’s 2023 annual report says HopOn has now visited more than 75,000 youth across the province, and the program received $500,000 from Sport Canada to help clubs start their own HopOn programs.
2026UCI recognition
At the Road World Championships in Montréal, the UCI awards Cycling Canada and the FQSC a Certificate of Recognition for HopOn, presented by UCI President David Lappartient on September 25.
Get involved
In British Columbia
HopOn Cycling BC
Run by Cycling BC and delivered by community partners and local clubs. Program fees, donors and grants keep it going, and Cycling BC lists financial-aid options for schools.
Visit hopon.cyclingbc.netAcross Canada
HopOn Canada
Overseen by Cycling Canada and delivered locally by provincial and territorial cycling associations, with community programs for ages 6 to 16 and in-school programs for grades 3 to 6.
Visit hoponcanada.caWhat I learned helping deliver it
Functional movement comes first
Watching thousands of kids learn to ride made one thing obvious: riding is a set of basic movement skills stacked together. Balance, braking, looking ahead, shifting your weight, and getting on and off the bike safely. When those foundations are solid, the “advanced” skills come quickly.
Access changes who rides
When bikes and helmets come to the school, every student gets a turn, not just the kids who already own a bike. That’s how a school program becomes a pathway into the sport for kids who might never have found it.
The other half of the story is the people who ran the sessions: training HopOn instructors and coaches across BC. I wrote about that in Coaching coaches for a decade.
Thank you
To the instructors, teachers, schools, partners and families who made iRide and HopOn possible: thank you. Every one of those sessions made me a better coach. And thank you to the UCI, Cycling Canada and the FQSC for recognizing HopOn at the 2026 World Championships.
More youth projects are on the For Youth page. Want to talk about youth cycling in your community? Get in touch.