
{"id":653,"date":"2007-07-25T14:53:41","date_gmt":"2007-07-25T22:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/07\/25\/blue-bikes-rolling\/"},"modified":"2007-07-26T12:27:50","modified_gmt":"2007-07-26T20:27:50","slug":"blue-bikes-rolling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/07\/25\/blue-bikes-rolling\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Bikes rolling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/recyclea072607rev.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/recyclea072607rev.jpg\" height=\"206\" width=\"275\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nChris Richmond, director of The ReCYCLEry, rolls out one of the newly tuned up Blue Urban Bikes. Photo by Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Jack  Carley<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The ReCYCLEry, Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nonprofit community bike workshop, is working to bring more bicycles to Carrboro roads. By expanding their bike loan program, called Blue Urban Bikes, or BUB, they hope to get people pushing bike pedals instead of gas pedals.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Urban Bikes program is the ReCYCLEry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biggest push to promote bikes on Carrboro and Chapel Hill roads. For the annual price of ten dollars or two hours of volunteer work, anyone can become a BUB member and borrow the refurbished blue bikes for a day at a time, complete with two cargo baskets, lights, a lock and a helmet.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The BUBs are found at hubs \u00e2\u20ac\u201d cooperating local businesses where the bright blue bicycles may be rented for up to a day at a time by BUB members.<\/p>\n<p>With some help in the form of a $15,000 grant from the Chapel Hill Town Council, the BUB program is expanding. There are currently hubs at different locations such as 3 Cups coffee shop, Skylight Exchange, Back Alley Bikes and Townsend Bertram &amp; Company at Carr Mill Mall, with several more in the works.<\/p>\n<p>The repair workshop and headquarters of the Blue Urban Bike program, found at the corner of Old Pittsboro Road and Daffodil Lane, is a large shed in a clearing in the woods.<\/p>\n<p>Sundays, the shop opens from noon to five, when anyone can come and work on their own bike or rack up 15 volunteer hours towards earning a refurbished bike of their own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bike workshop<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Monday night at the ReCYCLEry, and bicycle mechanic and repair lessons are being offered for the price of a few volunteer hours.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of bikes lean on each other, grouped according to size and type. Dozens more hang from the shed awnings on bent bike pedals \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a resourceful use of spare parts. Some will be refurbished with fenders and baskets and painted blue. Some will be dismantled.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/recyclerye.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"321\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Elizabeth Goldsmith (left) and Hannah Grimes at a recent repair session. Photo courtesy of The ReCYCLEry<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Concealed by the trees, a few people gather to listen and watch as the intricacies of bicycle mechanics are explained.<\/p>\n<p>The man dabbing purple bike grease into the moving parts of a bike wheel is Chris Richmond, director of The ReCYCLEry.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the last couple months, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really taken off,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says of the BUBs. The ReCYCLEry has received over 200 donated bikes since September.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Only one of our bikes was stolen, when we first started,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chris explains. He recalls how he later spotted the bike, now painted bright red. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We chased him down and talked to him\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Chris waggles a finger \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but we let him keep the bike.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The story demonstrates the true goal of the ReCYCLEry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c getting folks on bikes.<\/p>\n<p>The ReCYCLEry hopes to use bicycles to encourage a sense of community. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Riding a bike is getting you out of the box of your car. Our society has too many boxes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chris says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cars, televisions, and houses are our boxes. In those areas, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re insulated from the communities around you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Blue Urban Bikes is a smaller scale version of similar bicycle rental programs adopted in Europe in cities like Paris and Lyon. Smaller scale, perhaps, but on wheels nonetheless. Chris is looking to export the program to other places.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The idea is to make a model that works for this town,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chris explains, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153every idea gets muddied from too broad a scope. But you take an idea like a bike, and a town like Chapel Hill or Carrboro. And you take what works, and then you can export that model. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spiriting to find a local project and integrate it. Then you can tell others what they can do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The ReCYCLEry and the BUBs are for anyone who would like a bike. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We stay away from money and keep it barter,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chris says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a need-based organization, whether that need is actual or perceived\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great common ground.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Richmond, director of The ReCYCLEry, rolls out one of the newly tuned up Blue Urban Bikes. Photo by Kirk Ross By Jack Carley Staff Writer The ReCYCLEry, Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nonprofit community bike workshop, is working to bring more bicycles to Carrboro roads. By expanding their bike loan program, called Blue Urban Bikes, or BUB, they&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}