As I sit here on the shortest day of the year, I have been asked to pen a few words about what the Bike Shed is up to these days.  My usual answer of ‘nothing new’ is not quite correct.  Many years ago, a company trialled a bicycle share / rental system not unlike the e-scooters currently found all over Adelaide.  Bright yellow, internal hub gears (no problems), solid tyres (no punctures), front wheel dynamos for lights (no batteries) and generally very robust construction.  These bikes were soon to be found at the bottom of the Torrens, on the top of fences, hanging in trees and generally anywhere except riding around the street.  The trial was not a raging success and eventually the unwanted bikes were gifted to Bike SA for their use.

Time moves forwards and Bike SA, who know a bit about what we in the Bike Shed do, offered us all we could use because we are here to help people not just turn a profit.  Our immediate thought was they would be perfect to donate to Containers of Hope (a group we supply with refurbished bikes) for overseas use.  The puncture proof tyres and minimal maintenance would be perfect in developing locations.  Our donations to the refugee groups that we support would benefit from these as well for exactly the same reasons.  Suitable for less hilly locations they would be perfect for people to keep at holiday homes near the beach.  They are a readily accepted gift for us to gift to others.

So, throwing caution to the wind I said Yes!  We would love your unwanted bikes.  When asked how many we wanted I immediately said ‘all you can give us without us being greedy’ thinking 20 to 30 bikes.  They offered us one hundred.  Yes, that is a lot of bikes, but if we are lucky and can gift 50 to ‘Containers of Hope’ quickly and another 20 or so on to the refugee groups we will not have too many storage problems.  However, experience has shown us that not everything goes as we plan or wish – but we do live in hope.

In the meantime, we beg everyone’s patience and understanding whist we wrestle with the logistics of collection, distribution and storage of these bikes.  Especially the storage part.

PS – anyone want a yellow bike for their shack?

Peter – Bike Shed problem maker