Our Mission Statement

The mission of Lose The Training Wheels™ is to teach individuals with disabilities to ride a conventional two wheel bicycle and become lifelong independent riders. This achievement, in turn, creates a gateway of opportunity, helping them gain assurance and self-reliance in many other aspects of their lives.

A Brief History of Lose The Training Wheels™

Our adapted bicycling program had its genesis in the more than 20 years of research of Dr. Richard E. Klein and his students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Richard retired from his academic career at the University of Illinois in 1998 and the first bike camp was held in 1999 in LaCrosse, WI. In the ensuring years, Dr. Klein and his wife, Marjorie, invested a significant portion of their lives in growing the program to three fleets of bikes and approximately 30 camps in 2006.  Today Dr. Klein and Marjorie are principals in Rainbow Trainers, Inc.

In January 2007, a small group of parents, therapy professionals, and business leaders formed Lose The Training Wheels, Inc. as a not-for-profit organization which was recognized as a tax exempt public charity in June of 2008.

The Lose The Training Wheels™ bike program has grown from one camp and one fleet of bikes in 1999, to 79 camps across the U.S. and in Canada and eight fleets of bikes in 2010. The impact of learning to ride a bicycle and our high level of success in helping individuals with disabilities accomplish this feat continues to drive demand for our camps and fuel our growth. We anticipate that over the next 5 years we will grow to more than 150 camps in at least 5 countries.