Editor's note: Daily Tar Heel staff writer Nick Andersen has made periodic trips to the ReCYCLEry in Carrboro" where 15 hours of volunteer work can earn a bike.
""Bikes are simple machines and are simple to fix.""
The mantra found on a painted wooden board on the ReCYCLEry wall repeated in my head.
As I struggled to roll a loop of inner tubing onto a rusty bike wheel" I hoped the crowd of qualified mechanics and highly-skilled preteens working on other projects would be able to help me.
Every Sunday afternoon mechanics come to run an open workshop out of the nonprofit bike shed hidden in the woods off Greensboro Street.
The ReCYCLEry resembles a secret garden of bike memorabilia and heavily tattooed mechanics. Piles of old wheels" frames and handles line the overgrown path to an open-air shed piled high with colorful filing cabinets full of spare parts and tools.
ReCYCLEry founder Rich Giorgi told me his group of mechanics noticed a large number of children in the area without bikes.
""We thought if we could get kids on bicycles" teach them about bicycles ... but the program grew from there to include the whole community" Giorgi said.
Giorgi's original dream is alive today. On a recent Sunday, about a dozen local young people moved about the organized chaos of the ReCYCLEry's workshop. Gathered around flashy trick bikes and rusty refurbished frames, these kids seemed remarkably at ease.
Do you have a 10-inch?"" a small boy asked me as I tried my best to look competent with two defunct rear brake pads in my hands. I wasn't sure I knew what a 10-inch was so I just smiled sheepishly.
Shrugging"" the boy grabbed a wrench from my pile of tools and wandered back to his station to launch into the complicated replacement of multiple gears.
""It's a ‘do-it-yourself' attitude"" said Chris Richmond, director of the program since 2001. We want to empower people to be able to fix and build a bicycle"" to know if something is wrong with their bicycle down the road.""
Anyone can come to the Sunday workshops" volunteer for about 15 hours" then take home a bike.
""It takes about as long to earn a bike as it does to learn something useful"" Giorgi said. We don't want to just give bikes away but teach the community something as well.""
College graduates" local residents and a young doctor from Israel worked alongside me on their projects.
On my personal bike project I was fortunate to have the assistance of mechanic Gean Stoviek. Together Stoviek and I pieced together the corpse of an old Schwinn Sprint road bike.
The wheels were shot the pedals were flimsy and plastic" and I didn't trust the brakes to keep me from running into pedestrians.
""Plus" that seat just does not look comfortable" Stoviek said.
I had no idea what cabinet or pile to look in for spares nor what to do when I did manage to find a particular part or tool.
Stoviek understood. He took the reins and pointed to where I could find things, and together we finished in less than five hours.
Giorgi and Richmond were playful and relaxed with the kids in the shop. Responding to requests for assistance and advice, both men were jokingly blunt.
You're building this to send to your grandfather in Mexico?"" Giorgi asked one young boy working on a mini-trick bike. ""Unless your grandfather is three feet tall"" I don't think this bike is going to be a very comfortable ride for him.""
As I pedaled down the weed-strewn path on my newly refurbished bike" I felt a tangible sense of accomplishment.
Even though I took my bike home after my first five hours I found myself back at the ReCYCLEry sorting tires the next week.
I didn't have to come back but I still had so much more to learn about my bike before I felt like I truly earned it.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
