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Scott Fitzgerald never forgot the feeling of freedom he got from biking through his hometown and the trails as a kid. That sense of independence connected to bicycles stayed with him, leading him to open his own bike shop, along with his wife, Jannine. The Fitzgeralds opened Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 2002. The shop was successful, cracking into the U.S. Top 50 bicycle retailers, and the Fitzgeralds enjoyed matching new riders and old with bicycles, but they found particular joy in helping children pick out their new bikes. They both remembered that deep connection to bicycles they’d experienced as children and realized they wanted to pursue ways to connect kids to bicycling and the outdoors in greater ways.
In 2014, Scott and Jannine wrote their first children’s book, “B Is For Bicycle.” Shortly after that, they began creating podcasts about their bike shop and bicycling experiences. The podcast, “The World of Buddy Pegs,” centered on a bike shop named Buddy Pegs, run by two dogs, who are helping the other animals in their town of Spokesville fall in love with biking. The children’s podcast shared the Fitzgeralds’ love of biking with their growing passion for helping children get into the sport. By 2015, they decided to sell their shop to pursue this new interest full-time.
The couple wrote and published their second book, “Taking the Lead!” in 2017. While traveling across the country to book events and bike shows, the Fitzgeralds spoke with many parents. They discovered that while parents were enthusiastic about getting bicycles for their children, something important was missing from the experience—coaching. Many youth sports allow children to sign up from a young age, receive coaching, and participate in organized events. The Fitzgeralds didn’t see as many opportunities for that with cycling. At the same time, the time children spent outdoors was also dropping sharply. Determined to be part of the solution to both problems, the Fitzgeralds decided to move to Northwest Arkansas, where biking was exploding, to be a part of this growing movement.
They arrived in Northwest Arkansas in 2019 and launched Buddy Pegs, a biking program focused on youth cycling, serving children aged two and up. They focused on coaching and helping children learn to ride. Buddy Pegs also expanded into Kansas City. In 2024, the program changed its name to Pedal Kids to better encompass its mission to develop a national youth cycling educational framework for preschool through middle school-aged students.
Pedal Kids offers four different programs to meet the needs of kids where they’re at. The Buddy Pegs program is for riders aged two to five to learn how to ride without training wheels. Pedal Champs is for ages five to 12 and teaches more advanced skills but also works with new riders in this age group. MTB Kids gets kids on mountain bikes and trails, taking advantage of Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas’s vast network of bike trails. Bike Club gathers riders for rides twice a week, bringing community and fun into these regular gatherings. Air Force is Pedal Kids’ most advanced class, for riders seven to 12, and allows kids who are ready to challenge themselves to learn new, harder skills.
While Pedal Kids is headquartered in Bentonville, with classes also running in Kansas City, the program also offers touring programs. These one-to-five-day workshops bring at least two Pedal Kids coaches to any community, where they teach bike skills and education. Last summer, the team traveled to Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois and within Arkansas.
Locally, Pedal Kids is launching Winter Bike Club: Tinkering on the Trails. Partnering with the Scott Family Amazeum, kids will learn how bicycles work as they hit the trails twice a week for six weeks, beginning Jan. 27. Learn to Pedal classes and MTB rides will also continue throughout the winter.
The Fitzgeralds haven’t forgotten their roots in bike retail. They opened Buddy Pegs Family Bike Shop to outfit kids and families with the right gear for a great biking experience. Scott Fitzgerald has also collaborated with Huffy to help design bikes that fit kids better so that whether kids are outfitted through large retailers or local bike shops, they have a bicycle made well for their size.
What started as one bike shop in Jackson Hole and a love for hitting the trails has turned into an educational movement in Northwest Arkansas and nationally. Pedal Kids USA continues its mission to bring children to the outdoors, fall in love with biking, and create a more connected world, one child at a time.
Find out more about Pedal Kids in Northwest Arkansas at pedalkids.com.
All photos are courtesy of Pedal Kids NWA and used with permission.
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