Dave Rush has been a busy man in the weeks leading up to Celebrate Earth Day in Maple Ridge.
Rush has been fixing up bicycles for the Cycle Recycle Free Bike Draw that happens every year at the event.
This year, he has fixed up 24 bicycles, which are collected by HUB Cycling throughout the year, and each of those 24 bicycles will be given away to some lucky cyclists on Saturday, April 20. And there could be as many as 30 given out.
Each bike takes Rush between an hour to three hours to tune up – depending on the work that needs to be done.
Rush, who has been fixing the bikes up for the Earth Day draw for about a decade now, is also a committee member of HUB Cycling, a non-profit organization whose mission is to remove barriers to cycling around Metro Vancouver, and also to educate the public on the health, environmental, and economic benefits of cycling.
Another committee member Sigrun Gilmour cleans all of the bicycles.
Rush says he enjoys fixing up the bikes because, he says, society needs more cyclists.
“The more people we get on bikes, the safer it is,” said the cycling enthusiast.
“Because out in this urban wasteland, bicycles are an anomaly and nobody expects you. But when there are more riders out there, it is safer for everybody,” he said about drivers, who are then more likely to expect a cyclist.
HUB member Jackie Chow noted how the Earth Day event also allows their group to talk to people about what their experience is cycling in Maple Ridge, if they have any issues, if there is any infrastructure they have problems with, or if they would like to see improvements.
And the bike give-away, she said, is also a great opportunity to give unused bikes a second life.
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“A lot of people have bikes sitting in their garage, not being used. We’re just reminding people, if you are not planning on using your bike, donate it to us and we can give it to someone who will use it,” she said.
Rush has fixed up a wide range of bicycles for this years give-away, including a couple of road bikes, and some mountain bikes, some city bikes, one cruiser, and some for children as well – including BMX.
“There’s quite a selection,” he said.
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Rush learned the nuts-and-bolts of bicycle care, he said, by breaking down at the side of the road and having to fix his ride.
“Bicycles are pretty intuitive things,” he added, advising whoever wins his recycled bikes to keep the tires pumped and the chains oiled.
And, he added, make the bicycle comfortable by getting the saddle height right and the bars in the right position.
Rush also advised purchasing a bike multi-tool.
“That one tool does almost everything you need to do on a bike. They’re great,” he noted.
The draw for the second-hand bikes will take place at 1 p.m. on Celebrate Earth Day in Maple Ridge. Gilmour will be running the Cycle Recycle event.
People will be able to take a look at the bikes before entering their name in the draw for whichever bike they are interested in.
Festivities will start at 10 a.m. and run until 2 p.m. in Maple Ridge’s Memorial Peace Park along 224th Street between Dewdney Trunk Road and Lougheed Highway.
The theme this year is ROOTS, highlighting the past and underlying supports in the community and lives that are not always visible.