Sports & FitnessEagle Required (or Swimming or Hiking)

Cycling Merit Badge

Bike safety, maintenance, and distance riding — the third option for this Eagle requirement.

⏱Typical time to complete: 2–3 months

Good fit if you like

Tips for Earning This Badge

1Plan your long rides well in advance. The 50-mile ride in a day requires real conditioning.
2Keep a ride log from your first practice ride — date, miles, route, and any mechanical issues.
3The bike maintenance requirement is tested — learn basic repairs like fixing a flat and adjusting brakes before your counselor meeting.
4Ride with a partner on longer training rides both for safety and motivation.
5Counselors want to see you actually perform basic repairs, not just describe them — practice fixing a flat until you can do it without looking it up.
6A common pitfall: underestimating road conditions and traffic on the long ride. Route planning matters as much as fitness.

Official Requirements

We keep this page focused on tips and what to expect, not a copy of the requirement text — requirements get revised periodically, and scouts are generally held to whichever version was current when they started the badge (the same reason Scoutbook lets you filter by pamphlet version). For the exact, current wording, check your Scoutbook record for this badge or the official page below.

Cycling on scouting.org ↗

Finding a Counselor

Ask your Scoutmaster for the council's merit badge counselor list. For popular badges, a parent in your troop may already be registered as a counselor. If your troop doesn't have one, your council's advancement chair can help connect you.

Similar Badges You Might Like

First Aid

Eagle

Core first aid skills — wound care, CPR awareness, and emergency response basics every scout should know.

Health & Safety

Cooking

Eagle

Meal planning and cooking on a campout, plus basic nutrition and food safety.

Outdoor Skills

Personal Fitness

Eagle

A 12-week personal fitness plan covering strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health.

Sports & Fitness

Emergency Preparedness

Eagle

Disaster readiness — family emergency plans, first aid, and response to common emergencies.

Health & Safety

Lifesaving

Eagle

Water rescue techniques and lifeguarding fundamentals — a swimming-intensive alternative to Emergency Preparedness.

Health & Safety

Environmental Science

Eagle

Ecology, pollution, and conservation through hands-on field study and experiments.

STEM

← Back to Merit Badge Explorer