Bikes for Neighbors: A Bike a Broken Spoke, and What $10 a Month Makes Possible
By Ben Wyse, Bikes for Neighbors Program Coordinator
Carl* asked ChatGPT where he could get a free bike in Harrisonburg. It pointed him to us, Bikes for Neighbors.
Whatever you think about AI, we’re glad it thought of us. In this case, it connected someone with our program.
With our initiative, we strive to provide affordable transportation, which is why we proudly promote our program, Bikes for Neighbors.
We learned Carl was living at the Navigation Center, and arranged to meet at the Gift and Thrift, where we store our donated bikes. He tried out a few and took some test rides before settling on an old Cannondale hybrid from the mid-90s — light, zippy, the kind of bike you can feel is right the moment you swing a leg over it. (It had a 1-inch threaded headset, if that means anything to you.)
Every recipient gets the same kit. Carl was no different:
- Helmet
- Lock
- Pump
- Lights
- Rear rack
The goal isn’t just transportation — it’s reliable transportation, something a person can count on every day.
Carl had already been walking to work, not a huge distance, but the bike saved him real time. It was also, in his words, fun. That was early July. Since then, he’s landed a new job with better pay, and he still rides nearly every day.
The part we don’t put in the brochure
Recently, Carl broke a spoke. Anyone who’s put miles on an old wheel knows how that goes.
Here’s the honest truth: we don’t yet have the capacity to promise ongoing repairs or service. We lean on relationships with local bike shops to help our folks when they can, and we ask people to reach back out to us when something breaks. In this case, our program coordinator, Ben, was able to grab a new wheel, take it to the shop, and get it back on Carl’s bike himself, so he could keep rolling.
Long term, we’d love to build that repair capacity in-house. We’re not there yet — but we’re always dreaming about it.
A bike doesn’t fix everything, and we won’t pretend it does
Carl is working. He’s paying his own way. And still, housing in our community is too scarce and too expensive for him, and for a lot of our neighbors.
Bikes for Neighbors: A Bike a Broken Spoke
A bike alone doesn’t solve that. What it did was make one part of Carl’s life a little easier: getting to work quickly and reliably. That’s not nothing. It’s the whole reason this program exists. And a bike brings a kind of joy that’s hard to find sitting in a car.
What your support makes possible
That’s what monthly support can make possible for the next neighbor who calls us: a bike, a helmet, a lock, lights, sometimes a new wheel — whatever it takes to help someone get where they need to go, reliably.
$10 a month keeps this going. If you believe reliable transportation should be within reach for more of our neighbors, we’d love to have you with us.
Count Me In for Monthly Support →
Know someone who could use a bike? Reach out — referrals don’t only come through agencies. We rely on people in this community to connect us with folks who could benefit from a bike.
*Not his real name.
