Published by The Roanoke Star-Sentinel
January 22-28, 2010 Edition
Sharebike and Cyclo-Ward Pedal Into New Location
More than 100 biking enthusiasts attended an open house held recently to celebrate the new digs of Sharebike and Cyclo-Ward Bicycle Repair, located at the corner of Jefferson Street and Franklin Road. Cyclo-Ward is the maintenance arm of Sharebike.
The subfreezing temperatures and wind gusts of up to 32 miles per hour didn’t stop The Starbomb and the Star City Alley Cat bicycle groups from braving the elements and holding their individual monthly rides/races, which left from and returned to Sharebike the evening of the open house. The remainder of the crowd chose to stay inside where it was warm.
Launched by Ron McCorkle and James Rosar in 2007, both the non-profit community bicycle program and bicycle repair business were previously housed in a 475 square-foot storefront located in the City Market Building at 32 Market Square. The new and more spacious location includes a social area with a coffee service and large chalk talk black board to encourage shared dialog, an educational center with DVDs, bike-related publications and accessories, yellow sharebikes and a bicycle repair area. Information regarding upcoming bicycle events and the greenways is also available at Sharebike. The new location will begin selling new bikes in March.
Last Spring, Sharebike acquired a pedicab [a three-wheeled vehicle with a seat in front for the driver, handlebars and a cab in back for passengers]. The purpose of the pedicab service is to encourage bicycling and to offer a unique opportunity for visitors from out of town to see the city and have a guided tour by one of Sharebike’s professional drivers.
A small fee is charged to use the yellow share bikes leaving from the main location and the bikes are free to use at three other Roanoke locations that are operated by the individual businesses that Sharebike has formed a partnership with including Blackdog Salvage [located at 902 13th Street, SW], Grandin Gardens [located at 1731 Grandin Road, SW] and Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission [located at 313 Luck Avenue, SW].
Founded by McCorkle, Sharebike has no employees, but rather utilizes the bartering system with many of its volunteers. “One of the volunteers maintains the coffee service in exchange for our new blend of coffee created for Sharebike by Star City Roasters. Eighty percent of what we do is community supported by trade and donation,” said McCorkle.
“Sharebike has tripled in business after two years in all dimensions including size of building and volume and I anticipate at least doubling in volume this year. James Rosar, Owner/Operator of Cyclo-Ward, makes Sharebike possible by providing instruction, maintenance and repair for the bikes,” added McCorkle.
Being an organization created to stimulate, support and link together a wide range of community-based bicycling initiatives to Roanoke, Sharebike restores bikes that have been confiscated by the City and then donates the restored bikes to be used in an after school program at Woodrow Wilson Middle School overseen by Resource Officer, Jimmy Goad.
Sharebike’s hours of operation are currently 11:00a.m.- 8:00p.m. with the exception of Tuesday and Sunday when closed. McCorkle said that plans are underway to open daily in the spring and a Grand Opening is planned for sometime in March.
For additional information, visit www.sharebike.org and www.cycloward.com
By Susan Ayers