MIKE LEMMER: Time now for our KDNK Nonprofit Connect. I'm Mike Lemmer, and joining us now in studio from the Carbondale Bike Project, we've got Eric O'Connell here with us. Eric, thanks for coming in this morning.
ERIC O'CONNELL: Yeah, thanks for having me.
LEMMER: So, the Carbondale Bike Project, for people maybe not familiar with it, what's it all about?
O'CONNELL: Carbondale Bike Project is a nonprofit that was started back in 2009. Basically, it was helping people obtain bicycles, fix their bicycles, and it's kinda evolved since then. And I think it was 2018, we moved into a space here in the Third Street Center in Carbondale where we had a physical location for people to come; I think when it was started by Aaron Taylor, it was just in the parking lot, and then moved to basement of Aloha Cyclery. And so it's had a few iterations, but, yeah, we've been in the Third Street Center since 2018, I believe. And, yeah, that's our shop.
LEMMER: And how's the Third Street Center working out for you now that it's been a few years?
O'CONNELL: It's good. You know, space is limited, so that's one of our struggles. We can't possibly keep every bicycle that we receive throughout the year in our space. We have to do some shuttling and thankfully RAFTA has allowed us some storage space, and so we can store some of our bicycles there.
LEMMER: How many people are involved in the Carbondale Bike Project?
O'CONNELL: I'd say at least a dozen at varying amounts of time that they volunteer. We have five or six regular volunteers that are in the shop at various times throughout the week. And then we have some administrative staff as well.
LEMMER: Do you take new volunteers if there's people out there that wanna help out and do what they can?
O'CONNELL: Yeah, for sure. We're always looking for new volunteers. It helps if you've got a little bit of mechanical know-how and experience. A gentleman just came in the other day actually, and he worked at a bicycle shop in Aurora. And so that helps, having some knowledge on how to repair a bike 'cause we're only open three days out of the week, so, you know, there's not a ton of time to be training, if you will.
LEMMER: But you are open three days a week. You do the bike repair assistance all of those days as well then?
O'CONNELL: Yeah. So, Tuesday, Thursday, we're open 2:00 to 6:00 PM, and Sundays we're open 12:00 to 6:00 PM. And any of those hours anybody's welcome to come in. We have four bike stands with tools at each stand where people could come in, work on their bike if they know how. If they don't know how, we can help them learn to repair whatever it is that's wrong with their bicycle.
LEMMER: What are some of the more common repairs that you see? And what are some of the out there repairs, too? I would think you kinda get a wide range, don't you?
O'CONNELL: We do. I mean, most commonly it's a shifting issue, you know? Some brake stuff, obviously flat repairs are pretty common, but mostly it's gotta be, I would say, "My bike's not shifting right." And so it's usually a pretty simple fix. It just requires the know-how and the steps to do that, you know? Kinda like math, there's an order of operations, right?
LEMMER: In addition to the repairs, do you take donations of bikes as well, then?
O'CONNELL: We do. So, we take bicycles that are donated to us from across the Roaring Fork Valley. I think last year we took in about 500, and this year we're on pace for about the same. And those all come in various conditions and types of bicycles. A lot of them are just beyond repair, and they end up being at least recycled so they don't end up in the landfill.
LEMMER: That's a lot of bikes per year, though.
O'CONNELL: Yeah, I mean, if you were to do the math, it's on average 10,000 pounds of metal in a year. So our ability to keep that out of the landfill where it doesn't just, you know, decompose, is great; and then, you know, recycle that for metal.
LEMMER: Now, the ones that are fixable, the donated bikes, what do you do with them after you fix them up?
O'CONNELL: So the ones that we feel like we could make a little bit of money on to keep the operation going, we will resell out of our location at the Third Street Center. On average, we have between 15 and 20 bikes for sale any day that were open. And those range from kids to mountain bikes, some townies, cruisers. It just depends what the inventory is that week, or month, or whatever. Anything that is not a road bike, has some tread to it, we try to get to Africa through another nonprofit called Bicycles For Humanity. So they take over a few loads a year, I believe, in shipping containers. So we get them to them, and then they ship them on over to Africa. We send some to the Navajo Reservation through a nonprofit called Navajo YES. And then the other avenue that we have is sending them to Palisade for migrant farm workers to use on the orchard farms out there, and that's through a program called La Plaza. And I'm working on hopefully to get some down to Guatemala in this next year.
LEMMER: Nice. Yeah. So these bikes, they're kind of going all over the world then.
O'CONNELL: That's the goal. I mean, we're in a fortunate position where we live where people have some funds and are able to purchase bikes, and then they get a new one, and they give us their old one. And so it's only right to kind of move that on and not let it sit, you know, in a garage or whatnot.
LEMMER: That's awesome, though. And the bikes that you sell, all the proceeds go directly to you guys then as well, right?
O'CONNELL: They do. It helps us continue the operation. Occasionally, we'll have to buy supplies and parts and tools. All of our volunteers dedicate their time and effort, and we like to reward them on occasion, maybe at the end of the year give them a gift certificate. But it also allows us to do events and just keep the wheels rolling, as they say.
LEMMER: And I would assume those donations then become a tax write-off for the people donating them, right?
O'CONNELL: Yes, exactly. Not a lot of people itemize, but, you know, if you donate a certain amount, I don't know what it is, but you can write that off. And we offer a tax donation receipt for every person that wants to donate anything to us.
LEMMER: We're speaking with Eric O'Connell with the Carbondale Bike Project. Eric, all us nonprofits, we're all in this together fighting the good fight here. Thank you for coming in. What does community radio mean to you personally?
O'CONNELL: Community radio to me is a way to connect with your local community. I mean, it's great to tune in and just hear what's going on 'cause you don't get that a lot nowadays, especially if you're not reading a physical newspaper. So while driving or something, it's great to just turn it on and catch up on what's happening in your local community.
LEMMER: Very well said. Thank you. And, again, thanks for coming in. Where can people go to learn more about the Carbondale Bike Project?
O'CONNELL: Yeah, they could go to our website, which is carbondalebikeproject.org. They could stop in at our shop when we're open, and catch us on Instagram as well. We have a page, or Facebook.
LEMMER: And what were the days and hours that you're open again?
O'CONNELL: Tuesday, Thursday, 2:00 to 6:00 PM, and then Sundays 12:00 to 6:00 PM.
LEMMER: All right. Eric, any final thoughts here?
O'CONNELL: No, just wanna thank you for your support. KDNK has been a great avenue for us, and I love working with you guys and teaming up for certain events throughout the year; I think we've even donated a couple of bikes to y'all.
LEMMER: Well, and I believe you did, and we thank you very much.
O'CONNELL: Sure. You're welcome.
LEMMER: And again, thanks for coming in, Eric. Have a great rest of your day.
O'CONNELL: I appreciate it.
LEMMER: Eric O'Connell with the Carbondale Bike Project as part of our KDNK Nonprofit Connect. And for KDNK News, I'm Mike Lemmer.
