One Step At A Time

The rack at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective as of February 1st.

This post will be a bit of an update on my new job at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. I made mention of this gig a while back now and when I did, I said the "mission would be different". I thought maybe I could speak to that a bit more today now that I've been there a couple of weeks. (Well....almost two weeks!)

This is not a retail bicycle repair shop. So right off the bat I'm kind of in strange territory here. That isn't to say I don't fix bicycles- I do- but the reason I do is a bit different. 

We refurbish donated bicycles for resale to people with low income situations or for special needs. Basically, I'm turning bikes that have languished inside garages and basements into daily transportation devices, (much of the time) or for people just trying to get a decent bicycle for recreation, but one that doesn't cost a lot of money. We keep bicycles out of landfills and we scrap what isn't recyclable as a complete bike as responsibly as we can. 

Speaking of that, if any of you out there have any ideas on where/how to recycle old tires and tubes, I'm all ears. I've got a mountain of that stuff to move. 

So, it's a bit different story than I've been associated with for years. It's challenging. I am happy to be doing it and I think it is going to work out well. I know I'll definitely grow as a person from the experience, and that this takes me out of my old 'comfort zone' which is a good thing. The CVBC is coming out of the pandemic mess like any other business, which has presented its own challenges. I'll probably speak to that later in another post.

As I said, it is a challenge. I have to be making decisions on what to keep, what not to keep, and what to work on anytime I am there. I basically am a manager of sorts. Anyway, the state of things when I walked in was - and had been for some time - a mess. The folks on the Board of Directors for the Collective, (it is a non-profit organization) had started to clear out some things, but during my walk through when I got the interview for the job, it was apparent that there was a LOT to be done. 

So, I've been busy when I have been there. The hours are very part time, so when I am there I don't have a lot of time to dilly-dally. I think I've started to make a dent in things there. But I have to stay patient.

One step at a time.