Last summer, I was walking around the block with my daughter when one of the neighborhood kids came up to me, “do you have a wrench?” I sure did, so I grabbed my wrench and we walked over to see what the fix-it project was. Turns out the kid was swapping some stuff on some bikes so he’d have something to ride. I assessed the situation and said:
“Actually, what you need is a chain tool.” I ran inside and grabbed my small handy little device for removing a bike chain. When I came out and showed the kids how to use it, I was instantly transformed from that random neighbor who walks around with his kid all the time to The Bike Guy (I’d like to think of it as on par with super hero status). Soon, I had neighborhood kids coming over all the time to make adjustments and patch tires. We’d sit on the porch together and I’d show them some of the basics (I honestly don’t know all that much myself).
Fast forward to this summer, We have a growing pile of dismantled bikes in our backyard, the kids are still knocking on the door daily asking to use tools, I even bought a few thrift store bikes and gave them away, flats are still a regular repair…and then my bike pump broke. I’d had some ideas brewing for a while, but now with the need to dig up some money for some new tools, I decided to put them into action.
I got approval for a neighborhood block grant to organize a community “bike safety” event to give youth bike locks, and then I’ll also use grant money to purchase a set of tools and a whole stockpile of patches, tubes and more. And recently, I’ve been talking about Eli about what a northside bike project might look like.
I have a small vision right now: Ensuring every kid in my neighborhood, that wants one, has a bike and a lock. Hopefully along the way we can teach some basic bike maintenance, build some relationships, and have some fun. Interested in getting involved? Let me know.
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334
Warning: call_user_func(twentyten_comment) [function.call-user-func]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback in /homepages/22/d95365795/htdocs/blog/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 1334