bike station

About two years ago, while listening to a podcast by the girls at More Hip Than Hippie, I heard a wonderful idea presented by a woman in Chico, CA.  To make her street and neighborhood a little more bicycle friendly, she had set up a “bike station” in her front yard – kind of an aid station for cyclists – stocked with a patch kit, a few tools, a pump and a small bench where you could take a break.  I knew it was something we had to do here at home.

So this is our bike station – with a very big thanks to my husband, Mark, who put it all together.  We had retrieved the old bench from our pond (believe it or not) when we had first moved here, and he recently sandblasted and repainted it.  He just finished building the wonderful new cedar stash-box hanging on the tree.  It is stocked with a small rechargeable air compressor (cabled to the box, so hopefully it won’t disappear), and a small collection of tools.

the bike station box - with cycling "emergency" supplies

I’d plan to add a few additional supplies to the box, including a patch kit and/or spare tube, a set of tire levers, a rag, and possibly a small notebook.  When the weather is warm, I’d even consider putting a small insulated jug of cool water out there on the weekends.  What do you think?  Any other suggestions?

I plan to make a couple of flyers to drop off at our local bike shops, to help let people know it’s out here, and available for their use.

Mostly, I hope that it might turn into a friendly rest stop for some of our local cyclists.  We’re always glad to see them out on our road, and I hope they will come to know us as a bicycle-friendly to stop and visit.  Who knows – maybe some of them will decide to make their own bike stations around town?

Where can you find us?  Just ride on out Eureka Road (State Rte. 306) in Bradley County, about 1.5 miles north of Rte. 60.  Our geographic coordinates are N 35 ° 15′ 24.4″, W 84 ° 52′ 26.7″ … I’ll make it a little adventure for you!  Until I figure out something clever for a sign, just look for the bench. 🙂