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Once upon a time in Boulder, Colorado
Circa April 2006, a handful of young bike enthusiasts and advocates happened upon each other almost by accident. A few of us knew each other casually and some of us had less than successful prior attempts at starting bike organizations, but each one of us has a huge passion for bikes and lots o’ big ideas.
We all had different plans for bringing the magic of a bicycle to our community and making bikes affordable to everyone in our community.
Bikes to Africa! Community workshops! Bike sales! Maintenance & repair classes!We realized that we all knew many bike enthusiasts, resources and organization in town. We decided that by working together, pooling our resources, we could get more done.
Give new life to used bikes! Promote good health! Create sustainable transportation projects! Help the environment! Campaign for bike safety!
We crossed the line between daydreaming and reality.
We got in touch with other cyclists in the community, brainstormed, applied for non-profit status, contacted and researched similar organizations nationwide. We held our first bike drive.
We formed Community Cycles
Our aim, to recycle bikes from the local community, make them reliable again and get them back out to low income and/ or high needs members of the community. We further developed our best ideas and created a several programs such as Create-A-Commuter and Earn-A-Bike, on which to anchor our efforts. We connected with local resources and quickly established our workshop in north Boulder. We found that Boulder has no shortage of used bikes and we bravely took on the task of bicycle revitalization.
And, were we ever ambitious! We continue to build partnerships and work with community organizations such as the Boulder Food Co-op, GO Boulder, Naropa Bike Shack, Boulder Valley School District, Columbine Elementary School, Family Learning Center and the City’s Family Resource Schools program. We have received sponsorship and/ or support from local businesses such as University Bicycles, Cycle Sport, Mirrycle and Full-Cycle. We are currently forging partnerships with Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, EFAA, and the CU-Bike Program.
By July 2006, 3 bike drives (and that’s over 300 bikes), 2 storage containers, 1 newspaper article and lots of WD-40 later, we acquired enough bikes to focus on both our local and international projects. Our desire to create higher degrees of community involvement, collaboration, and service to our community is no longer a dream.