Free wheelin'
Dan Hock spends time outside the classroom giving back

Jon Ketchum | tech editor
jketchum2@smcvt.edu

Every week St. Michael’s College junior Dan Hock jams a myriad of responsibilities into his schedule. Between training as a semi-professional cyclist, managing the college biking club, taking 18 credits and working 20 hours a week at a job in downtown Burlington, Hock sets aside a few hours for something that he really loves, giving bikes away.

Dan Hock with his own project bike. Larry Frisoli, photo

A community “tuneup”

For the past two years, Hock has volunteered at Bike Recycle Vermont, a nonprofit organization that refurbishes used bicycles and gives them to refugees and low-income residents in the Burlington area.

Hock first discovered the organization through friend Kimberly Parr. While at St. Michael’s as an Americorps Vista volunteer, Parr worked at Bike Recycle Vermont.

“I went down once just to check it out in the fall last year,” Hock says. “Each week after that I went down more and more to work.”

Bike Recycle Vermont started in the backyard of Ron Manganiello, just three years ago. As a retiree of Burlington Electric, Manganiello wanted to occupy his time by doing something for the community. He felt building recycled bikes was
one way in which he could give to the less fortunate while also promoting environmental awareness, he says.

“I managed to find an extra bike in my garage,” Manganiello says. “From there a few bikes turned into a lot of bikes.”

In February 2005, the backyard bike program became so popular that it required more physical space, he says. Bike Recycle Vermont packed up its bikes and tools to move into the basement of Good News Garage, a nonprofit located in South Burlington. Similar to Bike Recycle Vermont, Good News Garage repairs old vehicles for families in need.

Good News Garage allows Bike Recycle Vermont to occupy the space rent-free, Manganiello says.

“My job as the founder of this organization is to find generous people in the community who will donate resources in order for us to expand, and most of all keep things free,” he says.

Bikes for free

Aside from one full-time employee and many drop-in volunteers, Manganiello receives support five days a week from Wilson Skinner, the Americorps Vista representative for Bike Recycle Vermont. Skinner came to the organization in 2006 as an advocate of community bike-oriented programs.           

“Biking is so great because it adds to the community feel,” Skinner says. “You are in constant contact with other people, not sheltered in a steel box.”

Some bikes refurbished at the organization come from a variety of places, such as individuals cleaning out their garages, Skinner says. The majority of the bikes received at the organization come from institutional donors such as the University of Vermont (UVM) and the Burlington area police departments.

“This past summer, UVM cleared out 50 bikes that were left on campus from the previous year,” he says. “All of them were donated to our organization.”

Bikes received from donors are wheeled into the storage room at the back of the shop where they will later be examined thoroughly.  Each bike is checked for working brakes, gears and wheels. Once the inspection is complete, the bike is equipped with front and rear reflectors and is ready to be given away, Skinner says.

“The bikes might be the best on the market,” he says. “However, the most important thing is that when we’re through with them, they work.”

The storage room at Bike Recycle Vermont. Jon Ketchum, photo

Each bike applicant is allotted one free bike per year, with the additional cost of a mandatory $10 bike lock.  In the past, bikes were completely cost free with no bike lock charge. However without the lock, recipients of the bicycles often become careless and have their bikes stolen, Skinner says.

“We can’t afford to replace bikes so frequently, so we bought locks and charged recipients for them,” Skinner says. “The people that really want the bikes aren’t going to be deterred by $10.”

Recipients are not allowed to go into the storage room to select their own bikes. Instead, each recipient is asked a series of questions which will determine the best style of bike for that specific person, Skinner says.

“Some people come in and say that they have to have a mountain bike because ‘that’s what guys ride,’” he says. “I have to tell them they can’t have one because they ride from Burlington to Colchester everyday.”

Most bike recipients are perfectly content with the bikes they recieve. Aveullhai Matla, a 16-year-old who moved to Winooski from Kenya six months ago, rides a pink, paint-chipped, 12-speed bike. Matla rides his bike to school and to his friend's house every day, he says.

“My bike gives me freedom,” he says. “I can go everywhere, and I can go fast. You can’t go fast when you are walking.”

An energetic atmosphere

After college, Hock is considering following in Skinner’s footsteps by working with the Americorps Vista program at Bike Recycle Vermont. He hopes that doing so will further his understanding of the community outside of St. Michael’s College, Hock says.

Donated bikes line the walls of the storage room. Jon Ketchum, photo

“Through this program, I have gotten to develop some pretty cool relationships with some Somalian kids that are in high schools around the area,” he says.

Volunteering at Bike Recycle Vermont has also changed the way that he views biking, Hock says.

“This program has really shifted my perspective on bicycles,” he says. “Before I was all about biking in regards to racing and now I see biking for what it really is, utilitarian.”

The best part about the whole experience for Hock has been learning how to give back to a community in need, he says.

“Whether you are working on bikes or going into a soup kitchen, volunteering lets you get outside yourself and give something to people that need your help,” he says.