Alum Shifts Cycling to School Into High Gear

On one of Calvin and Oliver Warlitner’s recent trips to Alameda Elementary School in Portland, Ore., Justin Timberlake provided some early-morning pep. But the pop star’s lyrics weren’t coming through car speakers. He was right there, pedaling a bicycle in sync with the brothers—and scores of other students.

“I was the first kid to get a fist bump,” Calvin said.

The scene exemplifies how Sam Balto ’07 is bringing biking back—to school, that is. Through his “bike bus,” entering its fourth year, the physical education teacher leads crowds of students on group cycles to the classroom every Wednesday, with upbeat tunes and cheers adding feel-good energy to fitness. His viral social media posts have attracted significant interest and helped new bike buses hit the road worldwide.

“Kids like being outside with their friends, they like being physically active, and bikes are really fun,” Balto said. “When you add music to all of that, it just creates a really good, joyful experience, and it’s a great way to set students up for success.”

While he mostly stuck to walking on his way to class as a communication major at the University of Maryland, he got more into biking as a P.E. teacher in Washington, D.C., Boston and now Portland. That interest ramped up in Fall 2021, when he came across a video on X of a bicibús of student riders in Barcelona.

That inspired him to host his own bike bus event the following Earth Day to promote sustainable transportation and get kids outside. Seventy-five students, representing 10% of Alameda Elementary, joined the ride, merging into the crowd at different meeting spots along the mile-and-a-half-long route.

Though intended to be a one-time thing, “they demanded we keep doing it every week,” Balto said.

He happily obliged, with some weeks’ groups growing to more than double the size of the first bike bus. Parent volunteers have joined the cause, guiding road crossings and bringing up the rear to make sure no student strays from the pack.

Besides the nostalgic music blasting through Balto’s speaker—“Sam knows how to hit elder millennial vibes with his playlist,” said Calvin and Oliver’s mom, Alison Warlitner—families appreciate the confidence the bike bus builds as neighbors line the streets and cheer on every rider.

“I love bike bus mornings because I know that my kids are excited to go to school,” said Warlitner, whose boys often pedal farther from their house so they have more time with the group. “I like the sense of independence that it helps foster in them—and the independence in me. I would not let them cross busy streets before things like bike bus. It helped me see them grow as kids.”

Popular posts across TikTok and Instagram have helped the idea spread, including the plea from Balto, a Timberlake fan, to have the star join a ride before his January concert in Portland. To the alum’s delight, he agreed, sporting a bright yellow Bike Bus windbreaker and high-fiving kids along the route. The event garnered more than 3 million views on TikTok and earned Balto a shoutout at Timberlake’s show.

Now on sabbatical from teaching, Balto is taking time to run both his local bike bus and the nonprofit he started last fall, Bike Bus World. Through visits and promotions, the organization is raising awareness of and supporting those starting bike buses around the globe, from New York and Chicago to India and Australia. Balto estimates there are now over 200 bike buses in the United States and 600 internationally, and he encourages anyone interested to talk to friends and visit the Bike Bus World website to create routes in their communities.

“It’s pretty cool to see how people from all around the world see the value in children’s mobility and independence,” he said.