MSU Bikes is only hosting this web page & has no other
affiliation with Back Alley Bikes. Contact info: Back Alley Bikes 3535 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI, near the intersection of Cass and Martin Luther King. Google map to the shop Voice mail (313) 879-5073 Email: backalleybikes@gmail.com |
Holiday Bikes 2005
This holiday season's "Holiday Bikes" program
at Back Alley Bikes was very successful. At the time that the E mail
report below was posted, we only had a couple of dozen of the outgrown
children's bikes rebuilt. In the last week, just before we had
scheduled the two days, Saturday, December 17th and Monday, December
19th, for
giving the bikes away, we had a number of new, to us, volunteers
come in to help.
By the time that the first day came on which we were going to give the bikes away, we had a total of about one hundred, (100) bikes that had been returned to a safe rideable condition. One of our volunteers dressed up as Santa Claus. He spent the afternoon down on the street corner directing people up to the shop. Also, for several weeks beforehand, a couple of our volunteers had been passing out flyers in the local neighborhood. From the time that we opened the door until we closed it four hours later, the shop was full of children with their parents selecting a suitable bike for the holidays. The Back Alley Bikes volunteers were all busy showing our guests around, helping them select a suitable bike to fit the youngsters and adjusting seat heights. We were, all, very happily exhausted at the end of the day. Most of the repaired bicycles had gone home with their new owners. One of the aims of the shop is to pass on our love of cycling to the children, youth and adults too, in the Cass corridor neighborhood that surrounds the shop. It is hard to do this to an individual who does not own a bike themselves! Well, this year, there are now a lot more who do.
The thanks of all of the BABs Cooperative Volunteers goes out to all of you that assisted use to make this program happen for many more children. You put a bigger smile on the faces of many children who would otherwise not have had one.
One of the other good things that has happened to the Back Alley Bikes program this season is that we had a visit from a Channel # 2 Newsman, Paul Herdtner and his cameraman. They spent an entire afternoon with us on Tuesday the 17th. That evening, the interview and photo story was on the station's evening newscast. One of the topics that was discussed was the fact that our furnace was not in working order. Last winter, we were actually forced to close the shop down because of the lack of heat. I was unable to watch the news that night because that was one of the last nights that we were repairing the children's bikes for the Holiday Bikes program. But, I have been told by several others, who were able to view it, that although it was short, it went well. Perhaps you may have seen it?
The best thing that happened as a result of this was that a J. Michael Smith, who is the owner of the Michigan Air Co, (810) 603-5555, volunteered to help us by repairing our furnace. He has been working on it for almost a week now. Very soon, we should have heat in the shop. This will permit us to keep the shop open this winter. If there are enough persons interested in a bicycle repair class, we can do that. If not, we are planning to remain open for our Tuesday 4 to 8 PM Open Bike Repair sessions and perhaps for our Monday 5 to 9 PM Mechanic's Night too. We will work with any individuals who either bring their own bikes in, or you can work on one of ours in our Earn-A-Bike program. We do have plenty of "vintage" bikes available. By the time a bike gets donated to our program, it is, usually, badly in need of repairs and various new or used parts too. Certainly, learning by doing is the best way to find out about bike mechanics.
The shop is located at 3535 Cass Avenue. This is near the intersection of Cass and Martin Luther King. We really do live up to our name because the entrance to the second floor shop is around the back off of the first alley West of the intersection. Knock loudly so that we can hear you upstairs.
Good Riding, from the tandem team and BABs volunteers of,
Pat & Mary Margaret Flinn, who say,
"A good ride with friends like you is a better ride!"
Earlier, we had let Todd Scott,
Executive Director of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association,
know about this program. We understand, from talking to some
of the cyclists who came in and volunteered their personal time,
that he had passed the information on to them. So, in the last
couple of days during which we were doing these repairs, we got
about a half dozen additional cyclists into the shop on each
day. All of them were very familiar with Bike mechanics. They
had been working
on their own much more complex mountain bikes. Many of them even brought
in their own tools and bike stands too. The small children's
bikes are of course much simpler. All that we had to do
was show them where the bikes were at, supply the occasional
tire or part when it was needed and get out of the way!
By the time that the first day came on which we were going to give the bikes away, we had a total of about one hundred, (100) bikes that had been returned to a safe rideable condition. One of our volunteers dressed up as Santa Claus. He spent the afternoon down on the street corner directing people up to the shop. Also, for several weeks beforehand, a couple of our volunteers had been passing out flyers in the local neighborhood. From the time that we opened the door until we closed it four hours later, the shop was full of children with their parents selecting a suitable bike for the holidays. The Back Alley Bikes volunteers were all busy showing our guests around, helping them select a suitable bike to fit the youngsters and adjusting seat heights. We were, all, very happily exhausted at the end of the day. Most of the repaired bicycles had gone home with their new owners. One of the aims of the shop is to pass on our love of cycling to the children, youth and adults too, in the Cass corridor neighborhood that surrounds the shop. It is hard to do this to an individual who does not own a bike themselves! Well, this year, there are now a lot more who do.
The thanks of all of the BABs Cooperative Volunteers goes out to all of you that assisted use to make this program happen for many more children. You put a bigger smile on the faces of many children who would otherwise not have had one.
One of the other good things that has happened to the Back Alley Bikes program this season is that we had a visit from a Channel # 2 Newsman, Paul Herdtner and his cameraman. They spent an entire afternoon with us on Tuesday the 17th. That evening, the interview and photo story was on the station's evening newscast. One of the topics that was discussed was the fact that our furnace was not in working order. Last winter, we were actually forced to close the shop down because of the lack of heat. I was unable to watch the news that night because that was one of the last nights that we were repairing the children's bikes for the Holiday Bikes program. But, I have been told by several others, who were able to view it, that although it was short, it went well. Perhaps you may have seen it?
The best thing that happened as a result of this was that a J. Michael Smith, who is the owner of the Michigan Air Co, (810) 603-5555, volunteered to help us by repairing our furnace. He has been working on it for almost a week now. Very soon, we should have heat in the shop. This will permit us to keep the shop open this winter. If there are enough persons interested in a bicycle repair class, we can do that. If not, we are planning to remain open for our Tuesday 4 to 8 PM Open Bike Repair sessions and perhaps for our Monday 5 to 9 PM Mechanic's Night too. We will work with any individuals who either bring their own bikes in, or you can work on one of ours in our Earn-A-Bike program. We do have plenty of "vintage" bikes available. By the time a bike gets donated to our program, it is, usually, badly in need of repairs and various new or used parts too. Certainly, learning by doing is the best way to find out about bike mechanics.
The shop is located at 3535 Cass Avenue. This is near the intersection of Cass and Martin Luther King. We really do live up to our name because the entrance to the second floor shop is around the back off of the first alley West of the intersection. Knock loudly so that we can hear you upstairs.
Good Riding, from the tandem team and BABs volunteers of,
Pat & Mary Margaret Flinn, who say,
"A good ride with friends like you is a better ride!"