In order to reach more individuals in need who might not be able to travel to the Bicycle Collective, we are starting to offer a monthly ‘Bike Kitchen’ at Switchpoint on Wednesday, Jan 16, 2019, 2 - 4:30 PM.
The Bike Kitchen is taking us back to our roots - this is how the St. George Bicycle Collective started in 2015, when Dannielle Larkin first gathered a group of volunteers and solicited bicycle donations to help the homeless in St. George.
The Bike Kitchen will take place monthly. Switchpoint residents are notified in advance, our volunteers help with immediate repair needs and give out invitations to the Bicycle Collective to those who need more in-depth help or who would like to earn a bike through our Earn-A-Bike program.
If you are currently in need of repair help or of a bike for transportation, or if you would like to help at the Bike Kitchen as a volunteer mechanic, please contact . Find out more about how to volunteer with us and about our Goodwill Earn-A-Bike Program HERE.
2018 was a record setting year for us! We saw an 8% increase in the number of individual volunteers who helped us out, and who put in 14% more hours compared to last year. Those may seem like boring numbers, but they directly translate to us being able to give out over twice as many kids bikes, three times as many adult bikes, and teach three times as many kids how to work on bikes during Youth Open Shop Night! Not to mention help us keep the shop running and all of our programs afloat.
We could not do what we do without support from the people like you! Whether you bought something from us, donated to us, volunteered with us, or just told someone about us, it's because of you that we were able to set new records in 2018.
And like anyone who is reflecting on the past year and looking into the next, we are excited to keep growing and improving to do even more in 2019!
Thank you all and Happy New Year
Dear SLCBC Volunteers,
Whether you volunteered one hour, 25 hours, or over 100 hours in our shop in 2018, your hard work and service did not go unnoticed. Last year alone, we had a total of 1,738 volunteers who served a total of 4,533 hours in our shop. These numbers translate to volunteers fixing and repairing 386 kids bikes and 261 adult bikes that were then given away to folks in our community who needed them most.
In addition to these bikes being repaired and given away, we can't even begin to count the number of parts that were salvaged and organized, the number of nuts, bolts, and dust bunnies that were swept up, and the number of tubes repaired and sorted in our shop - all by the hands of our volunteers. Our shop's success is very much dependent on our volunteers, we can't do this work alone! Thank you for your service and for the care you have given by serving in our shop to support members of our community. We're excited to see you and new volunteers in our shop soon!
Sincerely,
Amy Wiscombe
Volunteer and Program Coordinator
Click here to learn more about volunteering with the SLCBC.
Starting the first of the year, Youth Open Shop Night will be moving to Tuesdays! All youth ages 10 to 17 are welcome to come volunteer, participate in Earn-A-Bike, or work on their own bikes.
We've also got some great program improvements coming your way, including ways to build your skills and earn buttons for your apron. I guess you might call it "Bike Scouts"?
Come hangout with our new Program Coordinator, Bryce starting Tuesday, January 8th from 4:00-6:00 PM!
This year we're participating in the Ogden Weber Community Action Partnership Community Christmas to give bikes to kids in Weber and Davis Counties! This is a rad event that hopes to serve over 3,500 local kids! From the website: "The event features a Christmas Carnival for the kids, and a shopping area where parents can pick out gifts for their kids at no-cost to them".
If you'd like to help, you can sign up to help at one of our bike build events or to help us transport bikes here.
If you'd like to find more out about the event or want to help out the day-of, head on over the the Community Christmas website here! We're so thankful to be a part of such an amazing event!
Thanks to the Standard Examiner for the photo and this article:
In order to allow our staff and volunteers to spend time with their loved ones over the holidays, OBC will be closed November 22nd thru 24th and December 24th thru January 1st. We apologize for any inconvenience and we look forward to seeing you back in the shop at the following regularly scheduled time.
Happy Holidays from OBC!
Bryce Pexton
Youth Program Coordinator
What's up everyone, I'm Bryce. I'm 28 years old and was born and raised in Lakewood, Colorado. My wife and I bought our first house here in Ogden last year and we love this city! I've been mountain biking for the past 5 years, but want to try cyclocross and some triathlons in the near future. I grew up riding my bike around the neighborhood and to the pool where I spent most of my time as a kid. Being a pool rat eventually turned into years of teaching swim lessons and coaching/coordinating various swimming and diving programs. So, I'm excited to use those experiences to help grow my new favorite sport (cycling) and the OBC Youth Programs.
Education wise, I'm pursuing a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Weber State and building a successful Real Estate Investing portfolio.
I am honored to be a board member for Utah’s Bicycle Collective. I sought collaboration with the Collective in 2015 after realizing that the opportunity to own and enjoy a bicycle wasn’t equitable in my Southern Utah community. Many volunteers came together and made it clear that St. George was ready for a community bike shop and we opened the doors to our brick and mortar location in October 2017. I have a degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Southern Utah University. I’ve chaired and been involved in many community projects over the years and believe a little community involvement goes a long way. My husband and I own a commercial mechanical contracting business in St George. I have 4 kids, a dog, a horse, a garden, a podcast addiction, and a garage full of bikes. I hope to live to see the day when cycling in Southern Utah is not the outlier mode of transportation but one of the norms.
Andrew Butterfield picked up his passion for bicycles in his hometown of Boise, Idaho, diving headfirst into wrenching, commuting, touring, trail riding, and really any reason to be on or around bicycles. He moved to Utah in 2010 to complete his bachelor's degree at Westminster College, where he immediately got involved with the on-campus affiliate shop of the Bicycle Collective. Over the years, he has maintained regular involvement in once facet or another of the Bicycle Collective, but now spends his days doing academic research at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Along with his love for self-sustained, human-powered travel, Andrew continues to be impressed with the Collective's ability to grow as an organization while maintaining its unique community focus.
Rebuilding bicycles since he was 14 years-old, Thayne has live in Utah County for 43 years. He has a background in electrical engineering, mechanical design and has worked as a software developer for more than 23 years. Thayne initiated the electrical upgrade project at PBC and is currently coordinating the project. He hopes to contribute to technology projects and initiatives.
More...
Bio coming soon.
After retiring to St George, my wife and I began volunteering at bike events. The Senior Games, Intermountain Cup and Ironman St. George.
Early in 2016 the opportunity to rescue abandoned bikes came up and it has turned into Bicycle Collective St. George where we can enable all ages to learn and maintain all types of bicycles.
My reward is seeing young and old enjoy riding and learning about all the opportunities biking represents.
Jim spent his career building brands, customers—and value—for a host of innovative technology companies, both public and private. Jim co-founded Cirque Corporation, inventor of touchpad pointing devices now common on virtually all laptop computers. After selling Cirque to Alps Corporation in 2003, Jim founded the NorAm division of EnOcean, a Siemens spinout employing energy-harvesting to self-power wireless sensor solutions for use in building automation, industrial applications, and environmental monitoring. Since retiring in 2016, Jim consults part-time with companies in the energy harvesting and wireless sensor markets.
Jim began volunteering at the Bicycle Collective in 2017, became a core volunteer and joined the board of directors in November 2018. Jim has been a lifelong cyclist, former racer, and now an avid mountain biker. Having seen the personal and community benefits of cycling, Jim joined the Collective to extend that opportunity to all members of the community regardless of economic resources. Jim and his wife are avid skiers, cyclists and travel enthusiasts.
Joel Flores
Bike Mechanic
Originally from Southern California, Joel learned the ropes of bike mechanics in Moab bike shops.
He raced both downhill and road bikes, and loves to lend his expertise in bike mechanics and his ability to diagnose almost any issue in that realm to anyone who'd like to learn. Joel also built trails for the National Parks Service and Conservation Core, and worked in Search and Rescue and as a Wildland Firefighter. He's got some stories to tell.
Ask him about his experiences being involved in the Columbia Shuttle recovery efforts and what he knows about the real story behind the movie "127 hours".
