Spring brings return of student Bike Shop

Author: Jaime Fuller

The Middlebury Bike Shop reopened its doors last week in celebration of the return of green grass and optimal cycling weather. The student-run Bike Shop will continue to offer its free workshops teaching students, faculty and staff how to fix either their own bikes or one of the dilapidated bikes owned by the College.

The Middlebury Bike Shop was the brainchild of Hubert d'Autremont '07.5, who opened the current shop in the basement of Adirondack House in March 2007 with an Environmental Council grant and the help of friends and faculty. D'Autremont initially started the Bike Shop with the intent of salvaging the failed Yellow Bike Program by teaching his fellow students basic mechanics so they could fix the neglected bikes themselves.

Although d'Autremont has graduated, Cameron Kowall '09 is providing new leadership for the program this year and wants to continue the program's image as a place of not only mechanics, but learning as well.

"The bike shop promotes cycling in general while specifically offering valuable skills in maintaining one's bike," wrote Kowall in an e-mail. "It's a great space to learn in and is fully equipped for all bicycle problems."

Steve Heck '09, one of the student mechanics who works at the shop, echoed this sentiment as he opened up the Bike Shop last Saturday morning.

"We want to teach the general College community how to be self-sufficient in taking care of their bikes and offer them life-long skills," said Heck.

The Yellow Bike Cooperative that the Bike Shop has now replaced used to be a hallmark of the Middlebury campus, and prospective students were often awed by the presence of this communal form of environmentally friendly transportation. But disrepair and mistreatment forced the program to take an early retirement, and the bikes were put into storage where few thought they would make a reappearance on the sidewalks of campus.

After the Yellow Bike program was disbanded, the Bike Shop expanded to become a co-op where all members of the Middlebury College community can go not to have their bike fixed by a professional, but to learn the skills so they will be able to fix their bikes whenever a problem arises.

Those who fix the bicycles owned by the College are then allowed to take them for their own use. Not only do the workshops teach the participants skills that they would not earn from a liberal arts education, it also lets students take part in another recycling initiative that goes along with the College's keen interest in the environment.

Kowall and Heck are not alone in their efforts to teach mechanics to the masses of Middlebury. They are joined by students Tucker Levy '09, Will Drucker '09, Brennan Long '09 and Israel Carr '09. Wayne Darling, museum manager and events coordinator and Jack Byrne, campus sustainability coordinator, have provided invaluable administrative help as well, as the shop reopened this year.

Byrne believes that increasing the presence of bikes on campus will have positive effects not only for the student body but for the environment as well.

"The benefit to the campus will be an increase in the number of people using bikes to get around which reduces vehicular traffic and congestion, improves air quality, and makes people more active and healthy," said Byrne in an e-mail.

Each of the mechanics work one shift a week and Kowall stated that the size of each faulty bike's problem would affect how long it would take for the broken bikes to be returned to optimal condition.

"In terms of coming in with a problem, it may only require a 10-minute briefing to be on your way, or our night workshops offer a full understanding of every mechanical aspect of the bike," said Kowall.

This summer, the Bike Shop plans to expand its scope even further, fixing up bikes to be sold to summer employees and language school students. The funds that it earns from the sale of the refurbished bicycles will help sustain the Bike Shop in the 2008-2009 school year.

The Middlebury Cycling Club also hopes to become more involved with the Bike Shop in the upcoming year.

"We are hoping to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the cycling club and the Bike Shop some time in the near future," wrote Mackey Franklin '10, Cycling Club president, in an e-mail.

Heck hopes that the efforts taken by him and the others who offer their skills to the shop will be beneficial to the College community.

"It's cool to teach students bike maintenance," said Heck. "Riding bikes is a sustainable way to get College community around instead of using cars."

The Middlebury Bike Shop is open seven days a week, weekdays from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and weekends from 12:00-4:00 p.m. The shop will begin offering two workshops a week in the next few weeks.