- Cosmo the Cougar will join Cascade Elementary's bike bus parade on March 27.
- The event is led by Bike Bus World founder Sam Balto, aka Coach Balto.
- Social media helped convince Cosmo to join, fulfilling the students' celebrity request.
OREM — Cosmo the Cougar will be joining a list of celebrities who have participated in local bike buses around the country after he received a flood of social media requests.
Bike Bus World is an organization created to improve the well-being of children and communities through organizing people biking together to school. Founder Sam Balto, from Oregon, affectionately known online as Coach Balto, leads the bike buses, playing music for the kids to sing along to as they enjoy each other's company, get exercise and make their way safely to school.
Balto started the bike bus in Portland, but the nonprofit has slowly grown in popularity and inspired bike buses at schools across the country. And, through the power of social media, convinced singers Justin Timberlake and Benson Boone to join a bike bus.
On Monday, Coach Balto announced he would be coming to Utah to join the upcoming bike bus at Cascade Elementary School in Orem on March 27. He had Zach Goulding — a Utah mental health therapist who leads the bike bus in Orem — ask the students what celebrity they would want to join their bike bus.
The overwhelming answer was Cosmo the Cougar.
"So Cosmo, next week I'm riding in the bike bus. You gotta ride with us. We gotta make these kids' dreams come true. Let's make it happen," Balto said.
On a second post asking Cosmo to join, Balto said, "You pick the playlist. Let's make this unforgettable."
Comments tagging Cosmo started pouring in on Instagram and TikTok as the post was widely shared by people trying to get the mascot's attention.
And sure enough, on Thursday, Cosmo responded, saying, "No way I'm missing this."
Cosmo also shared the post on his Instagram story, saying, "Cosmo the Cougar is in."
The Cascade Elementary bike bus will start at 7:25 a.m. on Friday, March 27, at 500 N. 100 East in Orem. The ride is 1.5 miles with a midway point at 550 E. 200 North, where the kids will do a cheer before making the rest of the way to the school, Goulding said.
Bike Bus World has helped communities organize bike buses at schools across the country and provides resources for communities to advocate for active transportation infrastructure improvements.
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Cassidy Wixom
