Inexpensive, easy to operate, and healthy, bicycles should be ideal transportation for both young and low-income people. But somehow, at least in the United States, bicycling has too often become the domain of affluent, middle-aged hipsters.
Enter Phoenix Bikes, a ramshackle shop on the edge of Arlington County, Va., that, for the past 10 years, has served predominantly low-income youth, transforming them into budding bike mechanics. In a culture that has too many kids sitting in front of screens, Phoenix teaches them the art of working with their hands and how to enjoy the fruits of their labor by cruising along Arlington’s extensive bike paths powered only by their own energy.
Meg Rapelye, executive director at Phoenix Bikes
“Our whole philosophy is trying to make bicycling more accessible,” said Meg Rapelye, executive director at Phoenix Bikes, whether through “education programs, access to a quality refurbished bicycle, to more affordable repair services and used parts. So we’re part of the solution. We’re trying to reduce the barriers to bicycling and” become “part of a car-free diet.”
Currently, bicycling can be expensive. “If you go and try to buy a new bike, if it’s not from Target or Walmart, it’s going to start at $600,” said Rapelye. “It prices people out.” Repair, too, is expensive. Cheap bikes, on the other hand, are heavy and break frequently, often ending their short lives in dumps. Phoenix Bikes works to make bikes affordable, to make repair and reuse more common than buying new, and thus to be more environmentally friendly.
Renovating bicycles, developing young people
Phoenix Bikes works with 12- to 17-year-olds – a crucial demographic that is already heavily plugged into the internet and seems increasingly able to navigate multimodal transportation avenues, but not necessarily to work with their hands.
Young people begin learning and working at Phoenix Bikes during “a critical time in their lives,” Rapelye said. “They’re able to come here, learn skills, and use those skills to build a bike that gets donated maybe to someone from Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, who’s maybe getting out of homelessness. That bike will make a difference in their life to completely uplift them – and a 12-year-old in Arlington did that.”
The shop itself has several components. It takes old bikes and parts and reuses them sustainably. It teaches kids practical skills, who then take pride in building or maintaining their own bikes or repairing bikes for resale.
Young people “come out of it with a bike, a u-lock, and a helmet,” said Rapelye. They also “come out of it with tons of skills, both soft and tangible.”
Rapelye pointed to one kid, an immigrant from El Salvador, who showed up at the shop five years ago. “He just totally grew personally, he came in very quiet but really took to biking.” He also learned entrepreneurship through helping with the bike-sales program. He is now in college, trying to choose between an engineering and a business major. Either would utilize skills he picked up at Phoenix Bikes. And his whole family is now biking.
Cycling into the future
The numbers show the success of Phoenix Bikes. In 2016, the shop taught 487 youth the basics of repair, while 638 refurbished bikes were sold and another 67 donated to those in need. The shop rescues some 1,250 bicycles a year, many of which would otherwise end up in landfills. The shop also features rides every Saturday, a junior racing team, and classes for adults.
Phoenix Bikes also seeks older volunteers to get involved, from all walks of life, including those who want to teach, practice web development or data entry, do community outreach, or simply ride or fix bikes.
In recognition of its contributions, Phoenix Bikes was selected for the 2017-18 Catalog of Philanthropy, the second time it’s received this honor. The shop is also an Arlington Car-Free Diet Partner, demonstrating its commitment to a better environment. And it works for gender equity, operating programs for women and girls, who constitute only about a quarter of all U.S. bicyclists.
All this is taking place in an old concession stand, crammed with tires, gears, and other bike paraphernalia, without proper plumbing, heat, or air conditioning. The shop is frequently visited by insects and field mice, while the bikes themselves are parked in outside racks, exposed to the elements.
Fortunately, Phoenix Bikes has raised the money for a big move, to occur by the end of 2017. It will take over a large, well-equipped space in the Arlington Mill Community Center on Columbia Pike, conveniently located along two bike trails.
Phoenix Bikes has also been selected to host the 2017 Youth Bike Summit in Arlington’s Crystal City from October 6-8. The event aims to empower diverse youth not only to ride and repair bicycles but to become advocates and leaders.
Photo of kid jumping by Jo/Flickr. Photo of Meg Rapelye by the author.