The ThunderBlogs

The heels of Lucia Misch’s brown cowboy boots clicked against the concrete floor as she walked across the Bike Kitchen Tuesday evening. “It’s been a busy day today,” said Misch.

Several customers inspected bikes hanging from metal piping attached to the ceiling. Two workers circled a bicycle held by a silver stand and debated their diagnosis. The co-op board members sat on couches in the back corner and held their meeting. Everyone was busy. It was organized chaos to the tune of an employee’s iPod on shuffle.

At 6 p.m. the store closed to the general public and volunteers arrived for the weekly Purple and Yellow Work Party. Volunteer night co-ordinator, Arthur Krumins, said that it is the second longest running program of the Bike Co-op. Employees teach volunteers how to repair and maintain a community fleet of bikes. Volunteers earn a key to the bikes stationed around campus after investing six hours to learning bicycle mechanics.

Krumins greeted the new volunteers with smiles and introductions while some regulars began setting bikes up on the stands. Others checked the Volunteer to do List scrawled in green marker on a whiteboard. The first item read: “Eat at least 20g of fibre a day.” The joke hinted at the congenial atmosphere.

An employee separated the volunteers into small groups, assigned each a stand and the work began. The teamwork was clear. Volunteers passed tools to one another and employees exchanged oily-handed high fives with their students. “You wanna make sure it’s straight,” said vice president Kieran O’Neill to his two co-workers and they discussed how to fix the problem.

It was Roger Woo’s second week attending. “It’s refreshing not to just sit there… all day and learn from lectures,” he said, referring to the hands-on approach in the workshop.

A teaching environment that offers practical experience is part of the Bike Kitchen’s vision. “It’s about wanting to create a community of people who are interdependent and self sufficient,” said Misch.

A 12-year-old boy who rode his blue BMX to the party and worked on one of the bikes embodied that description. It is his local bicycle shop and he has attended the volunteer nights for a year. He learned how to fix his own bike from the mechanics here, but his favourite part is the free pizza.