I like visiting my favorite local bike
shop to drool over new bikes and bike accessories as much as the next
cyclist. They are friendly and knowledgeable and I like supporting
them when I can. Maybe you've been dropping hints lately about what
would be a great gift, or scoping out gifts you'd like to give your
cycling friends and family. If so, stay tuned for next week's post.
Right now though, perhaps what you'd
really like is not more accessories, but to learn to work on your own
bike and support more bike ridership. Maybe you know someone who's
had their bike stolen or needs to have work done on it to be
ride-able. If they don't know how to repair it and can't afford to
take it to a shop, what then?
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| B.J. truing a wheel |
In this post I'd like to talk about
some of the ways you can participate in or support Lincoln's
alternative routes to bike ownership and repair. There are several
Lincoln bike shops that sell used bicycles, such as Re-cycled, TheUsed Bike Store, Bike Pedalers, Salty Dog Cyclery, and The Bike Rack.
There are many on-line resources, such as Lincoln Bike Swap on
Facebook, and you'll find more if you do an internet search, and of
course, there's Craig's List. There are also a few stolen bike report
and recovery databases for those who've had their bike boosted, such
as Project 529 and Bike Index, but I'm unsure as to their usefulness
in our fair city. Pawn shops sell bicycles too, but in all cases,
buyer beware. Some bike shops will look them over for you and tell
you what to be aware of. (Monkey Wrench Cycles comes to mind) When it
comes to making repairs, if you want to learn to do it yourself, or
just be more knowledgeable there are several options. Cycleworks,
the Bikerack, and Bike UNL, through Outdoor Adventures, occasionally
offer basic maintenance classes for a fee. Mad Dads offers used
bikes and repairs at relatively low cost, and gives bikes away in
special promotions to kids through the schools.
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| Gary working on a bike so a kid can ride to school |
The Lincoln Bike Kitchen is the newest
resource available. It's a bike cooperative that provides refurbished
bikes to anyone who volunteers at least 10 hours of their time to the
Bike Kitchen. Kids get them for free. Volunteer members learn
skills working on bikes and ride away with both transportation and
knowledge. Paid memberships are available for supporters as well,
and donations are being sought to provide helmets, lights and locks
to those riding away with their newly refurbished bikes. The helpful
staff of the Bike Kitchen provide advice and adjustments too. If you
don't have tools or expertise, you can come during open shop time to
work on your own bike. They do not charge for services. The Bike
Kitchen will offer special classes on any aspect of maintenance and
repair to interested groups(sheclisma's take note.) I'm interested in
learning what to do if I'm out on a long ride in the middle of
nowhere and have a serious breakdown. There are even women and
trans-gender only shop nights. Donations of bikes, parts,
accessories, and gear are welcome, and some better items are offered
for sale to support the operation. It's a great way to recycle your
old bikes, bike parts, and accessories in good shape. I found directions for making a wallet out of inner tubes on their website. How's that for a great DIY idea for that special gift and a
good way to reuse inner tubes?
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| inner tube wallet |
Volunteering at the Bike Kitchen is a
great way to give back to the cycling community, improve people's
lives and grow the next generation of cyclists. See you there!
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