The Back in Gear bike recycling initiative by Bike Cochrane is off to a solid start, with more than 50 bikes donated in its first two weeks. Even more are being welcomed by Bike Cochrane and students in Cochrane High's acclaimed Rivers, Oceans and Mountains (ROAMS) program.
ROAMS students were eager to get involved in the program, which is led by Cody Alba of Bike Cochrane. The initiative focuses on keeping bikes out of landfills—many of which only need a bit of care and a few parts to be road- or trail-ready again.
ROAMS instructor Jander Talen says it's a perfect fit for their program, enhancing both mechanical and employable skills while contributing to a broader goal.
"One of our objectives is to try and create a healthy community in different ways," said Talen. "This one focuses on active transportation and takes things that are destined for the landfill or rusting in a garage and gives them new life."
The community quickly embraced the Bike Cochrane initiative. Talen says within a half-hour of the original article being published, three bikes were dropped off at the school—outside the designated hours.
"So things are starting to happen," said Talen. "We started slow on purpose, trying to build this thing, and it's still in its infancy."
Even bikes that are beyond repair are useful. Usable parts are stripped and repurposed to restore other bikes. Having the right parts on-hand is one of the initial challenges until their inventory build.
Bike Cochrane invites people to donate used bicycles, purchase refurbished ones, or volunteer with Back in Gear on Fridays from noon to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at Cochrane High School. The program runs until June 20.
In addition to bikes, parts such as tubes, tires, pedals and handlebars can also be donated at Big Hill Cycle and Bike Bros during regular business hours.
RELATED STORY
The program came at the perfect time for ROAMS students Cade Robertson and Ryker Johnson-Holst, who had already selected bicycles as the focus of their ROAMS project before Back in Gear launched. They will present their work at the annual ROAMS Fest on June 5.
"We're doing this to help build a more sustainable bike community and to get more people on bikes and talking about them," they explained.
To prepare, the students received two training sessions—one in Calgary and another locally—to develop their skills.
They work through a checklist for each donated bike to determine the required repairs.
"We put a check mark if it’s OK, and an X if it’s not," they said. "If there are too many Xs, we usually scrap it and use the parts to repair other bikes."
So far, they have found most of their repairs have involved brakes and gears.
People can apply for a restored bike through an online form on the Back in Gear website. Prices are kept low, based primarily on cost recovery for parts used.
Startup funds for the initiative were provided by the Cochrane Foundation.