Community Cycles encourages riders to fix their bike this weekend
(Seguin) – A local group of volunteers are wheeling over the idea of reminding folks on why there is truth behind the saying that “you never forget how to ride a bike.” But before you put that memory to the test, you first need a bike, or you just need a place to air up those tires and tighten up those brakes.
Community Cycles is the city’s newest outreach initiative through Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, to get folks of all ages riding their bikes.
With the community hike/bike path running directly through the church property, Pete Silvius, one of the lead coordinators for the volunteer-based group, says Spirit of Joy has a unique opportunity to engage its neighbors and the broader community through the shared experience of cycling.
While there are various phases to roll out to an even bigger plan to get people riding, Silvius says they have organized Saturday workshop days, where repairs can be done for free. He says it aligns with the free bike repair station that’s already set up on the property.
“What our goal is is to promote bicycle use in Seguin. The location of the Spirit of Joy Church and the workshop is right on the bike path so it’s a perfect opportunity to help celebrate mobility in Seguin and bike use for transportation and for recreation and the first phase of that was to put a community work stand up on the sight so at the trail head, right by the church is a work stand that is accessible 24 hours a day and a bike pump and then the second phase was to create an opportunity for volunteers to be on hand to help work on bikes so that is the second Saturday of the month and so folks are invited between 9 a.m. and noon. The workshop area is at 617 Medlin St and it’s on the far east side of the Juan Seguin campus,” said Silvius.
Silvius says rain or shine, he hopes families come out and spend time on their bikes this Saturday. He says this program has recruited a great group of volunteers from around the community all willing to share their time with those looking to restore their bikes.
“They’ll have access to some used parts that are free to use and tools to make the bikes run better and so our goal is to have that happen every Saturday of the year and that’s kind of the first outreach opportunity of Community Cycles. In addition to those efforts, we hope to repurpose some bikes as giveaways to the community for folks that could benefit from a bike for getting to and from work or to and from school and so in the coming months and years, we will be building that program out a little bit more. We are happy to accept donations of used bikes that could be repurposed. Some of those will be broken into parts. Some of them will be refurbished and recycled into a bike for someone else,” said Silvius.
Silvius says this vision brings together everyone. He says bikes are important to any community and hopes that Seguin also sees their value.
“I’ve worked for Seguin ISD for quite a while and one of the joys of my job is getting to teach a lot of kids how to ride bikes and I often hear from families, we have a bike but it has flat tires and so this is an opportunity with other likeminded volunteers to try to make a difference in that and help to get some of those bikes up and running so that more people can enjoy how great it is to be out on a bike. In Seguin, really you can ride a bike almost every day of the year and you can use that bike to really get almost anywhere you want to go,” said Silvius.
Silvius says there is no better community than Seguin to launch such a program. He says with a bike trail running through the heart of the city, the possibilities of how it can improve the community are limitless.
“A community that is safe and accessible by bicycle is going to improve the viability of the community both economically and socially and we see that happen time and time again. That’s evidence across the country and across the world and I look at Seguin and I think the sky is the limit on the potential for use to lean into a more bike friendly, more pedestrian friendly community and part of that is let’s make sure we can help these folks with their bikes,” said Silvius.
Not only are bikes a source of transportation but can be mind changing when it comes to health and fitness or used strictly as recreational.
Like Community Cycles, similar programs are also in place in Austin with the Yellow Bike Project and in Houston with Freewheels. The hope according to Silvius will be to one day follow in the footsteps of Freewheels by becoming a nonprofit organization – truly investing in the people of Seguin.
Again, the bike shop will be open every second Saturday of the month. Those looking to donate bikes or be a part of Community Cycles are encouraged to stop by this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon or like the group on its Facebook page.