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This blog is no longer being used by the Roll it Forward program. Please visit www.bostonbikes.org for the most up to date happenings with the Roll it Forward program, including current drop off locations, incentives,  and promotions. 

Thank you!

Workin' For His Wheels: Roll It Forward Bike Recipient Michael Abreu

Over the past week or so we've had a special guest in the Boston Bike Mines — Michael Abreu, a kid from Hyde Park who happens to go to high school in Brighton. Michael McKittrick, a teacher at Brighton High informed Roll It Forward that Michael Abreu had gotten his bike stolen and that he was devastated by the event, McKittrick wondered if we could find a way to get Abreu on a new bike.

Not long after that Michael Abreu was down in the Bike Mines, up to his elbows in bike grease, performing a complete overhaul on a pristine steel-lugged Trek road bike from the 80s. Michael showed incredible natural ability — never having to be told or shown how to perform a task more than once. He even remembered which items on a bike are left-hand thread (something even a seasoned mechanic screws up from time to time).

Michael blew through basic bike maintenance tasks like adjusting brakes and derailleurs, breezing through wheel-truing, moving right up to the overhauling of the bottom bracket, hubs, and headset. And when he was done doing everything that could possibly be done to his bike, he immediately offered to help out with working on bikes for other Roll It Forward recipients. A class act all the way.

The plan is for Michael to ride from his home in Hyde Park to school in Brighton. For this mission Michael received some necessary accoutrements — a Bell helmet and a Kryptonite lock.

We want to thank Michael for his help and wish him luck in his ambitious commuting endeavor.

Bunches Of Balance Bikes Delivered To Holland School

Yesterday Roll It Forward dropped off sixteen 12" and 16" wheeled kids bikes and sixteen helmets at the John P. Holland School in Dorchester. Most of these bikes are set up as "balance bikes" — The cranks and pedals have been removed to allow kids to learn to balance and steer before they become distracted by the secondary act of pedaling. At RIF and Youth Cycling Program, we teach a whole lot of kids to ride and this is far and away the best way to get kids rolling on two wheels.

The bikes will be a permanent fixture in the Kindergarten classrooms of Holland School, making learning to ride bikes a regular recess activity. We look forward to meeting a whole bunch of already-riding-kids the next time we visit the Holland for a Youth Cycling event!

And we have had some GREAT YCP events at the Holland School, check out the photos after the break...

Honor Roll

Our program moves fast.  Most of the time, we work so hard to repair bikes or to coordinate donation events that we rarely have the chance to absorb just how much support has come our way.  As we step forward into 2012, we want to take note of how lucky we are, and if you're reading this, you're the reason why. 

The good news:  We reached our goal of donating 1000 bikes!  As of today, there are officially 1087 more bikes in the hands of low-income Boston Families and in the neighborhoods and parks across our city.  The 1000th bike was delivered last month, during a great event with the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition's Vigorous Youth teen program.

The better news:  We're not stopping.  We're going to continue our work. There are plenty of people out in Boston who still need a bike, and we know how much impact a bike can have on someone's life.  You're the reason for that impact, because we couldn't have done this without you.

Roll it Forward wants to thank all of the following people, in no small measure, for helping us do what we do.  The list is long and we're naming names.

Major Contributors:
Mayor Thomas M. Menino
The Boston Public Health Commission (Daisy, Anne, and Elizabeth)
Giant Bicycles (Ed Barber, Brad Klipping)
International Bicycle Centers (special thanks to Harold Knochin, Gregg Smith & Chris Agee)
Pedros (Matt Simpson, Matty Bracken, Keith Cardoza)
Quality Bicycle Components (QBP)--special thanks to Chuck Sween & Steve Flagg
Erin Christiansen and the BPHC Childhood Injury Prevention Program
Alex Turnwall at Hifinit Design Group

Program Partners:
Belmont Wheelworks & Ace Wheelworks (Clint, Peter, Colin, Jason, Gary and all their great mechanics)
Bikes Not Bombs (Sarah, Elijah, Sam, Steve Bosco and their wonderful Youth Ambassadors Abdul, Stephanie, Will, Evan and Corinna)
Giant Cycling World (Seth, Baylor, and Lance)
Eastern Mountain Sports bike shops:
 Newton: Kevin, Dan, & Jimmy
 Cambridge: J.T. & Celeste
 Commonwealth Ave: Demian & Mat
 Hingham: Jason, Chris, & Jeff
Dave and the crew at Back Bay Bicycles
Josh and the team at Papa-Wheelies Bike Shop
Dan at Salem Cycles
JRA Cycles (Brian, Aaron, and the mechanic staff)

Special Thanks
* Thom Parsons
* Jonathan Chamberlain
* Everyone out there who has donated a bike
* The dedicated and talented Boston Bikes teaching staff and interns.
* Michael Kineavy, City of Boston Mayor's Office
* Transportation Commissioner Thomas Tinlin
* Nicole Freedman, Director, Boston Bikes
The goodfellas at Geekhouse Bikes: Marty, Greg, and Brad
Kim Lanza, Boston Public Works (thanks for saving the day)
Josh Klein and L.L. Bean
Dennis Davis, Boston Redevelopment Authority
Daryl Slater and Eric Anastasia at Kryptonite Locks
Niles Kuronen and the movers at Gentle Giant Moving Company
Dane Tullock and REI-Boston
Allan and Glen at Noonan Creative Group
Aigner-Prensky Marketing services
Huong Nguyen, Coleman Flaherty, and Rich Andrade, Boston Transportation Department
Michelle, Allen, Julie, and Mary Boston Auditing Department
Kate Sullivan, Boston Redevelopment Authority
Darryll Fernald, volunteer wrench
Pete Stidman, Boston Cyclists Union
John Tobin, Northeastern University
Will Crosby design services
Eric Ferraz and the crew at Penske Truck Rental
Anne Cushman and Redbones BBQ
Friends of Recycling, City of Wellesley
Dan Stevens, Town of Sudbury
Randall "DiDi" Cyprien of Wheelworks, for volunteering mechanic services
Jed Jeng, Super-volunteer extraordinaire
DotBike
Herb Nolan, Wellesley
Jackie Jackson, Boston Human Resources
Kate Bennett, Emely Medina, & Rachel Boillot, Boston Housing Authority
Liz Powers & Lauren Price at the LIFT Project
Julia Golomb at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy
Ricky DeFrancisco, Cantabrigian Mechanics
Jessica Robertson, MAPC
Greg Rooney, Boston Transportation Department
Charles Lucas, Mather Elementary School
Julie Sneed, Holland Elementary School
Doreen Dove and TeenLife
Kelli Trombley, Avalon @ Prudential Properties
Maurice Smith, Boston Public Works
Michael Welch at the Boston Redevelopment Authority
Vincent Best, Cambridge Public Works
Sportsmen's Tennis Club in Dorchester
Roz at the Nahant Police Department
Julie Gehring (thanks for the pie)
Rich LeBlanc, Boston Redevelopment Authority

1000

On December 17th, we accomplished something that to our knowledge, no other municipal entity has ever done:  We have officially reached our goal to collect, repair, and distribute 1000 bikes to low-income families across the City of Boston!

Can you imagine?  One year ago, there were 1000 less functional bikes in the City of Boston.  1000 kids, teens, and adults didn't have a bike in their lives and now they do.  In some instances, we introduced hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of bikes to kids in a single neighborhood.  And every single one of the recipients got a helmet and learned how important it is to wear it.





What will all of these bikes add up to?  What health effects will we see as more Bostonians become more active, riding their bikes for exercise, fun, convenience, or to save money?  More importantly, what will having a bike mean to those hundreds of young people that are now new cyclists, as they ride and have fun in their neighborhoods?  What will we see from this in a few years as they grow up with a bike?

We can't wait to find out.

-Images courtesy of Sam Rosenholz

Video: Operation 'Save The Free Spirit' With Cantabrigian Mechanics

A little while back we paid a visit to our friends at Cantabrigian Mechanics, a high end bicycle frame building and fabrication shop in Medford, MA. They happily lowered themselves to the task of fixing a damaged Free Spirit Outrage for us. Shenanigans ensued...we filmed the event.

 

 This is Georgie, the recipient of the bicycle in question. He seems pretty stoked on his new ride.

Roll It Forward Named Emerald Necklace Conservancy's Community Partner of The Year

 

On Wednesday, October 2nd Roll It Forward was awarded the Emerald Necklace Conservancy's Community Partner of The Year. The award was presented by ENC's own Julia Golomb during an incredibly touching ceremony. And as if that weren't amazing enough, we were also treated to a hilarious and informative speech by Living On Earth's Steve Curwood. Altogether a brilliant evening.

Earlier this summer Roll It Forward provided Emerald Necklace Conservancy with bikes and guides for a mountain bike ride in the Middlesex Fells involving a large group of Boston teens. It was awesome!

Photos from the day after the break...