The coated part of the playground at James John Elementary Faculty in St. Johns would usually be quiet and empty on a wet day after faculty. However this previous Friday was something however regular because the playground buzzed with exercise and over 45 native households confirmed up to select free bikes.
“It’s an excellent ol’ bike fest!” mentioned Joe Kurmaskie, an writer often known as the “Metallic Cowboy” for his collection of books about household bike adventures who’s now the chief director of Reborn Bikes, a statewide group that expects to offer away 12,000 bikes this 12 months. Kurmaskie and his workforce, together with Metro, Portland Public Colleges, Trauma Nurses Speak Powerful, Bike Bus PDX, and others, distributed about 130 free bikes, helmets, lights, and locks on the occasion.
James John Elementary has an energetic bike bus that has spurred demand for bikes among the many faculty group. Bike Bus chief and mother Jessica Fletcher has stepped as much as meet the necessity. “I’ve change into the biking woman right here at our college,” she mentioned. Fletcher has seen the bike bus develop in recognition, however realized a whole lot of children had been neglected. She did a faculty survey and located 50% of the scholars don’t also have a bike and that half the households driving to high school wished to journey as a substitute. “So I simply felt like, there can’t be this glorious factor that everyone’s doing after which so many children can’t do it as a result of they don’t also have a bicycle.”
Fletcher linked with Kurmaskie and others in the neighborhood, and the occasion fell into place due to a whole lot of planning and volunteers.
One of many of us serving to out yesterday was John Brandsberg, a hazardous waste technician at Metro. He works with Kurmaskie to maintain bicycles out of the waste switch station (a.okay.a. dump). For the reason that duo teamed up in the summertime of 2023, they’ve rescued 2,200 bikes that will in any other case be despatched to landfills. “These bikes used to get recycled, which is an effective deal,” Brandsberg shared on Saturday, “However giving them to children to allow them to journey bikes is so significantly better.”
Youngsters like which can be what retains Kurmaskie going. He estimates that his refurbished-bikes-to-bike-bus pipeline provides about 30-40% of bikes utilized in Portland’s rising variety of bike buses. “Which is a very cool factor, as a result of it makes it egalitarian. It makes it that everyone will get to do bike bus.”
And college leaders like Fletcher are completely happy to create the demand. “We had a child that joined [the bike bus] final week who’s a first-grader and he mentioned, ‘I wish to get 100 children on this bike bus’,” she shared. “So I believe that is going to make that attainable.”
A younger James John Elementary pupil named Arlo offered residing proof of idea. I met her as she obtained snug on a purple Trek Mountain Observe. She advised me she picked it out as a result of, “I actually just like the deal with brakes and I like the way it has a cup holder. Plus, I simply love the colour and stuff.”
“Typically you’ll be able to simply really feel what bike is best for you,” Arlo added, as she seemed down at her new rig. After I requested what she’s wanting ahead to as soon as she will get the bike house, Arlo mentioned, “Oh, simply driving loads. I’m pondering of becoming a member of the bike bus.”
