100 Miles on an Previous Rudge 3-speed to Increase Cash for Phoenix Bikes Youth Bike Program
I know PEZ is primarily (but not exclusively) about road bike racing and “serious” road riding. But I wanted to share this Facebook post by my friend Henry Dunbar who is the Director of Operations for Active Transportation for Arlington County Commuter Services, overseeing the Capital Bikeshare, BikeArlington, and WalkArlington programs. He was previously the Executive Director of Phoenix Bikes, an Arlington non-profit youth bike and education program (that I’ve donated a lot of my extra bike stuff to). His post was a reminder to me that cycling is more than just carbon fiber, fancy kit, stylish shades, and watts.
That bike!
Here’s a link to his original FB post which is re-printed below. Henry did his 100 mile ride on August 6 and as of this writing has raised more than $11,850 for Phoenix Bikes! If you’d like to donate, here’s a link (donations close at 11:59pm EDT on August 11).
I’ve heard from many of you that you’ve enjoyed my Love Letters to Phoenix Bikes. It’s hard to hide the fact that I love just about everything about it (caveat: wish they had a warehouse and were open on Sundays, but those are more reasons I selfishly want them to grow).
As I’m packed and ready to ride for 100 miles tomorrow, I’ll tell you about my first love of the place: It’s the bikes.
We’ve had tens of thousands donated in our 15 years, and I’m like one young lady who came through the program: I want to save them all. Hundreds are fixed up and sold each year to support the mission. Hundreds more either go as Earn-a-Bikes for the youth, or Give-a-Bikes that go to people in need working other non-profits. Some scores more are stripped for parts, and/or used in the teaching process to let the youth build confidence working on bikes they don’t have to worry about breaking.
Then there are bikes like the one I’m going to ride tomorrow. Donated with a large batch of bikes, but then put on the pile to be “regifted” to scrap metal guys. When we are inundated with donations, and don’t have room to even see what we have, something has to go.
This old 3-speed British road bike – a Rudge Sport – was one of those. It had parts too old and heavy to be worth much, and a frozen rear hub that didn’t shift. Not worth much to sell “as is” and wouldn’t be worth the return on staff time invested to fix it. So out it went.
“Can’t we do something with it?” I asked, even though we had a huge cache of other, better bikes to fix up.
“You want it? Fine,” said Edoardo, the shop manager, “But take it home because we don’t have room for it here.” So I did.
I’m really not a good mechanic, but with elbow grease (and actual real lubricant) I got the rear hub unstuck (for two gears anyway) and found that the dry-rotted tires still held air, and was riding it within an hour.
Over time I’ve tinkered with it to clean it up, and had to replace some parts to keep it running, like those tires, but virtually everything on it was sourced from Phoenix Bikes. The only new things bought were the tires, brake pads, and hose clamps to mount the water bottle cages because these old bikes don’t have the mounts built in. It’s become one of my favorites to ride around the neighborhood, and for short errands.
But I never took it too far, figuring if something did break, I would have too far to push it home. In 2020, I rode it 100 miles for the Phoenix Bikes Raise+Ride, but for 240 laps around my block.
Tomorrow, I’m making a ride of faith, and taking it out and back on the 45-mile Washington & Old Dominion Trail. all with the bike and parts from the Community Bike Shop of used stuff. In fact, everything I’m wearing and the accessories are also from Phoenix Bikes: the old shop shirt, bike shorts, bike sandals, do-rag, rear rack bag, water bottles and even the Nut Case Watermelon Helmet, were pulled and purchased from the donation bins of use gear at the shop.
So in my effort to keep the place rolling along, I literally wear the place on my back as a way of saying thanks for all you do for the kids of Arlington, but for me, too.
Chapeau Henry! And thank you for the reminder about what bike riding is all about.
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