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Don’t Bogart That Bike My Friend
Pueblo gears up (barf) for a bike collective. Rafael Cletero spoke to a group of more than 30 like-minded citizens working towards Pueblo’s first ever bicycle collective. The event, Saturday May 18th filled the newly founded Living Room venue. So what exactly is a bike collective? Well it is easier to explain what it isn’t. It is not a free bike repair and maintenance shop. Nor is it a free bike ride to wherever you want and then just ditch the bike or return it destroyed with missing parts (thank you very little Tyrone from the 10th grade).
It is more of an educational service provided to the biking public looking to improve their bicycle ownership skills or perhaps volunteer to service and catalogue donated bikes, parts, and service hours. Ideally bike collectives also provide a lending library, much like a traditional media library. As modeled in other cities, the conditions for “checking out” a bike require a valid id and credit card. In return, people can use bikes to get around planned riding areas such as downtown/riverwalk, the Nature Center, or City Park.
Mr. Cletero gained infamy by starting Bike Against, the Ft. Collins bicycle co-op, which many bike storeowners at the time were adamantly against. Over time however, he was able to show the other shops that it was in their best interest to get more people on bicycles. Within three years he was able to build the collective into a healthy non-profit business, serving people all over the planet. “We were able to ship more than 400 bike to Ghana,” adding, “beyond what we did in Ft. Collins,” Cletero stated.
Volunteering has its perquisites. Upon completion of a specific number of hours, members of the collective can earn a bicycle outright, and with some of the high-end bikes being donated, this can be a major reward for the work. Not all the cherry bikes go to volunteers; however, certain sweet bikes, including vintage road bikes, go to other non-profit groups as donations to auction off in order to raise money for other causes.
The idea isn’t new to Pueblo. Others have tried to build interest in cycling and make bikes more available, but no one has found a system that works efficiently until now. Notably, the new effort by the Pueblo City County health department, PACE, has grant money to help the cause. Pueblo Active Community Environments is an important component because they have money to get started and help develop Pueblo as a more bikeable and walkable city through increased signage, printed maps, and bike racks. Similarly, but without the money, is Pedal Paradise Inc. Glenn Ross is the person behind this non-profit group promoting bicycle recycling. They also offer access to free bikes, organized rides called Trips for Kids, as well as a bicycle earning system.
All over America, many stolen bikes recovered sit unclaimed at city storage and then are sent to landfills or sold as scrap. Keeping these bikes available to the public gives people a chance to get some exercise and fight obesity, while at the same time cutting down on air pollution. Bike collectives are able to provide community service hours for people and serve as a gathering place for people to meet others interested in making the world a better place. It should be obvious by now that a bicycle collective is the panacea to all the world’s ills.
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