Without a bike shop nearby, downtown Hartford has started offering bike-friendly services to riders who have flats. Ambassadors from the BID are equipped to make minor bike fixes for free to anyone within the neighborhood’s limits.
The program launched on Bike to Work Day, which Hartford observed on May 19. Posters and outreach to local employers will begin soon, Polon said. In the meantime, the ambassadors have been working out kinks with the program and assisting people who are referred to them for help.
The service’s first call came last month from Robert Trottier. By day, Trottier is the engineer for the nearby city of New Britain, but he took a day off to spend time with his son. They were bicycling in Hartford when his son’s tire began leaking. “I didn’t bring anything with me to fix a flat or change a tube,” he says. While they were walking to take a bus home, they did a quick Internet search for a bike shop. They called Bici Co., which referred them to the BID.
Programs like Hartford’s, which is unique in its accessibility and openness for riders, are key parts of supporting local cultures that encourage (and make simple and easy) everyday biking.