Bikes for Neighbors: Why Bikes Alone Aren’t Enough

Here’s a quick story about one neighbor the Coalition recently worked with through Bikes for Neighbors.

Editor’s note: The photo shown here is not Molly, but another great story we’ll share soon.

Molly came to the program already biking to work every day. Her ride, though, was a clunky department-store bike, heavy, slow, and not the most comfortable.

Ben Wyse (our Bikes for Neighbors Coordinator) offered a refurbished bike with a simple promise: try it for a couple of days, and if it doesn’t feel right, we’ll swap it. The goal is dignity and agency, basic choices like anyone would expect in a bike shop.

A few days later, Molly texted back, and the team swapped bikes to get the fit right.

Staff then learned Molly was riding straight down Route 11 on the south end of Harrisonburg, sharing space with tractor-trailers. One morning, Ben Wyse rode along and showed a safer route: through JMU’s campus, onto the Bluestone Trail, and through the Public Works property (did you know there is a bridge over Black’s Run)?

Four miles—almost all of it without cars. Molly was relieved and excited.

The heart of the work

This work isn’t just about handing someone a bike. It’s about making sure people have options and can use that bike safely and conveniently.

• Sometimes that means riding alongside a neighbor on their commute.
• Sometimes it’s teaching a simple skill like how to lube a chain.
• Sometimes it’s showing how the bus and a bike can work together.