http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IsJnD8QZeU&feature=youtu.be
Velo Cruces, The Optimist Club of Las Cruces, and Southern New Mexico Bicyclist Educators recently came together for an event called “Ride Right, Ride Bright” at Mesilla Valley Community of Hope.
The organizations offered safety equipment and repair for low-income people in the area who need their bike for transportation.
Ron Roberson lives at the Las Cruces Gospel Rescue Mission, his bike needed some work, so once he found out that the event was going on he headed over.
“My bike had a flat, and it was completely dead, and that’s my main transportation. So my boss told me they were doing bike repairs over here so I came over here and they are fixing me up right now,” says Roberson.
Roberson says when you depend on your bike to take you places everyday it takes a toll on your two-wheels.
“It’s about the equivalent of riding your car to work everyday. The tires, the gears, the oil…it’s a lot of wear and tear. The streets are nice, but you don’t always have a bike lane so you have to go off road…there’s stickers everywhere, we live in a dessert so it’s very important to have a good working bike,” Robertson says.
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Tammy Schurr with Velo Cruces explains what type of work that was done by volunteers.
“We’re doing things like repairing tires and tubes and tires, adjusting breaks, adjusting detailers. They often have different things that go wrong with their bike with headsets. You know, whatever we can do to repair them that’s quick and easy we try to do those,” says Schurr.
Wesley Collins also lives at the gospel mission nearby he says it costs a lot to keep up your bike, so this event is helpful.
“Like right now, I ain’t got a dime to put on this thing to get it back going. So, hey they are going to fix it for me, so that works out,” says Collins.
Tammy Schurr says that the group was inspired to do this volunteer day twice a year to help promote safety for cyclists in the Mesilla Valley.
“A few years ago there were several cyclists, one that was killed on Telshor and one that was killed here on Valley Drive. They were homeless, didn’t have lights on their bikes, and so we decided as a community project we would put lights on bikes, then it grew into actually doing bike repair as well,” says Schurr.
These repairs and safety opportunities are helping people in the community who depend on their bike so they can get ahead.
