The Middle Way Rescues Old Bikes And Puts Them Back On The Street

by Dawn Pillsbury, Sonoma West Staff Writer, 1/07/2004

SEBASTOPOL - With customers from Sebastopol to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a new Middle Way project is putting people on bikes and training its developmentally-challenged workers to refurbish old bikes.

"A lot of our clients have great mechanical inclinations," explained Middle Way Executive Director Jeff Edelheit. "We wanted to find something easy yet beneficial and that could be built on."

Community Bikes, a collaboration between the Middle Way, Car-Lite, local bike shops and other community groups, rescues old bikes, restores them and gets them back into circulation in the community.

"I see this shop as a catalyst for the community to be more bike-friendly," said Manuel Mejia, a Middle Way trainer and supervisor of the bike shop.

The Middle Way is a Sebastopol-based nonprofit that helps developmentally challenged people develop job and other life skills.

The main focus of the program, explained Kathryn Ackland, director of Middle Way client services, is to train the developmentally challenged people who are Middle Way clients in a skilled trade.

"There are lots of jobs in janitorial, landscaping and heavy labor, but not skilled trade," said Ackland. "This will give our clients the opportunity to get jobs in bike shops out in the real world."

Middle Way client Arnold Anderson of Santa Rosa said he is looking forward to working in a bike shop someday.

"I'm still getting used to the tools and equipment," he said. "But if I have questions, I can always ask Manuel. I like working with bikes."

Michael Teller, a Sebastopol resident and former bike shop worker who has volunteered with Community Bikes since its inception last summer, said bikes are great for the community.

"Ecologically, economically, socially, bicycles contribute to society," he said. "The more we have people riding bicycles and learning about them, the more opportunities we open for people to have a connection with bicycles."

One fund-raiser the project did last summer raised $5,000.

"We sold 50 bikes at Burning Man," said Ackland. Because bicycles are the best way to get around the Black Rock Desert during the Burning Man Festival, held in the Nevada desert every August, there was a lot of interest from people who fly in to attend the festival.

"And almost all of them were donated back to us," she said. She plans to repeat the fund-raiser at the 2004 festival.

The Community Bikes shop, located in the Middle Way building on Morris Street, is dedicated to the memory of George Frank, who owned Analy Bike before he died on Aug. 29, 2003.

"His widow, Norma, has been very generous with us," said Mejia. She donated many of the tools the Middle Way clients have used to refurbish almost 200 bikes so far.

The Sebastopol Lions Club installed lights in the shop, Fine Edge Cabinets built the stands, boxes and benches and RITES Project (Return Intentions to Ecological Sustainability) members painted a mural across one wall of the shop.

Mejia said one of his favorite aspects of the project is working with the volunteer bike workers.

"We hold volunteer nights a couple times a month," he said. "We had a big rush to get the bikes done for Burning Man and these people came out to help. It's great because the clients get to work with these people they'll hopefully be getting jobs with in the future."

The refurbished bicycles are available for a $100 donation to Middle Way. They still need donations of old bicycles and money for the project and are looking for sponsors.

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