There is a new effort by Colorado Springs City Council to recognize individuals making a difference in the community. Each member of council is designated one month out of the year to nominate someone from their district for the Community Recognition award.For the month of August, cycling advocate and regular volunteer Allen Beauchamp was nominated by City Councilman David Leinweber.A bike is much more than recreation for Beauchamp."My favorite office is a bike meeting, I guess you would say," said Beauchamp.Elected leaders, business executives, average citizens, and reporters have all experienced Beauchamp's pedal-pace view of the city."I call it experiential education, and almost everybody comes away with a far deeper appreciation of the complexities of our built environment," said Beauchamp.He is an advocate for bike infrastructure, but his work is much more. His tours include recognition of the city's history, the importance of the environment, and building the future with support for kids programs.Beauchamp is a Westsider. His work is a bridge for the whole community, both metaphorically and literally. A bridge on the very north end of Monument Valley Park is now known as Popcycle Bridge, in part because of Beauchamp.Volunteering with Kids on Bikes, he helped launch a regular family ride with the halfway point at this bridge. It was so hot on the first ever ride, he wanted to bring something icy for the kids on the next ride."We opened up the back of the trailer, had a cooler, and we dispensed some Otter Pops. Well, that just became a thing I said, I'll bring Otter pops every week," said Beauchamp.The tradition is now legend and a reason for upgrades to the bridge."Very quickly it became the Kids on Bikes Popcycle ride, so P-O-P-C-Y-C-L-E," said Beauchamp.Decades of volunteering were recognized with Councilman Leinweber's once-a-year choice of someone to nominate."When I thought about it, it took me about three seconds," said Leinweber.Beauchamp reflects on infusing his passion for cycling with community support."Many times I think most things here in Colorado Springs, they just need more helpers and they need people that can identify, hey, something needs to be done," said Beauchamp.When standing before city council to accept the recognition, Beauchamp graciously diverted attention from himself to his wife and others he says deserve a lot of the credit for what he does.Earlier this summer, Phillip Cisneros from Councilmember Roland Rainey's district was the first recipient of the Community Recognition Award.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy._______Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less