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Updated: January 2009 Contacts:
Mission People Served History In 2006, Anthony connected with Rich Points, Wanda Pelegrina Caldas and Colleen Speno, who were doing similar bicycle-related work both locally and internationally. Colleen was collecting bikes under the name “ Spokes Community Bicycle Project,” which forwarded bikes to Ghana, Africa. Points and Pelegrina Caldas were working to promote cycling in Boulder through the Boulder Bicycle Commuters, Bike for Peace and several projects to make the local food coop more bike-able. Rich and Wanda brought car-free living into the public eye by relocating from their old apartment to their new house entirely by bike. In 2006, partnering with the Village Bicycle Project, Community Cycles shipped 450 bikes to Ghana, Africa, and Points became the executive director of the organization, a position he holds today. The organization sold used parts and bikes at VeloSwap, the world's largest consumer bicycle and sports expo, held annually at the Denver Coliseum to raise funds for community educational programs. Proceeds helped launch an after school program through the Family Learning Center at San Juan del Centro in Boulder to teach lower income children about bike mechanics and riding skills. This pilot program provided youth participants an opportunity to earn a bike and served as a model for the “Earn-a-Bike Program.” In early 2007, Community Cycles moved to 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000, conveniently situated 20 yards from the Goose Creek Greenway trail, a key artery in Boulder’s bike path system. The new location gave the already busy shop environment tremendous exposure as hundreds of cyclists, joggers, walkers, roller bladers, skate boarders and more traverse Goose Creek on any given spring, summer or fall day. As its presence expanded, the organization doubled its program development and outreach efforts and hired the organization’s second staff member, Gary Gingras, as shop director. The “Work Release Program Earn-A-Bike” was launched to help inmates from the Boulder County Jail earn a bike as a means of reliable transportation to aid their transition back to community life. The addition of the Work Release Program significantly boosted the number of Earn-A-Bike graduates. Fortunately, the Boulder Police Department and the University of Colorado started allocating their abandoned or impounded bikes to Community Cycles so they could be refurbished and re-cycled into the community. This partnership proved practical and both organizations continue to be major donors of used bikes to Community Cycles. As the organization continued to promote bike commuting, Community Cycles implemented its “Bike Fleet Maintenance Program,” which helps local organizations including local businesses and governmental groups acquire and/ or maintain a fleet of bikes for use by their employees and visitors. As part of the Bike Fleet pilot program, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder contracted Community Cycles to revamp its existing fleet of two dozen bikes which included repairing and fully repainting their bikes as well as introducing several new ones. Community Cycles continues to provide ongoing maintenance services for UCAR’s “Blue Bikes,” appropriately named after famous hurricanes or weather systems. During summer of 2007, Community Cycles increased its presence in the community with a weekly booth at Boulder Farmer’s Market to provide $20 tune-ups and informational tips for market patrons. Through the “Rolling Bike Clinic Program,” members of the organization transport – exclusively via bike – and set up a temporary bike shop, complete with mechanics, repair stands, tools, spare parts and more in a lower income neighborhood. Clinics usually end in a group ride. That fall, Community Cycles hosted its first annual Bike Shorts Film Festival at the Boulder Outdoor Cinema featuring a selection of short films about bikes from Boulder and around the world. To wrap up the year, Community Cycles held its first annual Holiday Kids Bike Give Away at the Boulder Outlook Hotel. During the first months of 2008, Community Cycles sent 100 bikes to Jamaica through CHURCH in Denver and also contributed bikes, destined for Namibia, Africa, to Bicycles for Humanity. The City of Boulder awarded Community Cycles the contract to the city’s “Walk & Bike Month.” For the first time since its inception in 1977, the City entrusted the coordination of the events to an outside organization. This also marked the expansion of the originally week-long event to a month including more than 50 events throughout June 2008. However, the highlight of the month was the participation of more than 7,500 registered individuals in Boulder’ Bike to Work Day – an increase of more than 50% from the previous year’s participation. CC will be coordinating Walk & Bike Month again in 2009. In November, during a quarterly planning retreat, the CC board, staff and core volunteers decided to change the organizations from “Your bicycle community at work” to “Creating a culture of cycling” which best reflects the work and vision of the organization. Community Cycles ProgramsEarn-A-Bike (EAB) Holiday Give Aways Community Programs
Volunteer Program Funding and Donations Community Cycles Board of Directors
For more information about Community Cycles, visit www.CommunityCycles.org. |
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Volunteer Meetings
Find out how you can get more involved with Community Cycles at our monthly volunteer meeting. Meetings are held at the shop on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6p.m..
