.thickfrostysugarswirls.glitterair.silverstreak.congealedpurpleominous greypearly blanket
quiet before npr. dreamy, bed-warmed. roll over.sleepy half smile.
(yes!) dubbs(sleepy)curled up.
ninaprecariously hanginoffbed. stretches further. long yawn.
sleepy defiant glance...(guess who'll be cross if you make it wake up time?).
ninargoyle wins.
Roll over.snuggle up to sleepy1/2smile...kiss
both1/2smile.heartwarmsmile too. fall asleep.
Community Cycles' program lets inmates fix, keep bikes
By Beth Edwards
January 4, 2008 --
BOULDER - For inmates in the work release program at the Boulder County Sheriff's Department, finding a reliable means of transportation to go to and from work has been a challenge.
Last year that problem was made easier by Community Cycles - a Boulder-based nonprofit. Through its Earn-A-Bike program inmates can repair bikes and then use them to go from jail to their new place of employment.
Bill Kolbe, coordinator for the work release assistance program at the sheriff's department, said the program has had a significant impact on inmates.
"What's really rewarding is when an inmate who has been struggling his whole life and hasn't really had anything will say, 'I have a really nice mountain bike now,'" Kolbe said. "I know it's keeping more people on their jobs because they have a means of transportation."
Community Cycles was started in April 2006 by Rich Points, the nonprofit's director. He and Gary Gingras, the assistant director, operate a small bicycle shop out of an industrial work space at 2805 Wilderness Place in Boulder.
Their mission is to educate and advocate safe use of refurbished bicycles as affordable transportation.
"When I moved to Boulder I became car-free and started biking everywhere," Points said. "I found the bike was a great solution to the things I was concerned about - corporate power, pollution, oil wars. I came to Boulder to go to Naropa in the environmental leadership program."
When Points and his girlfriend, Wanda Pelegrina, began thinking about starting a nonprofit bike collective they met with Colleen Speno of Boulder-based Spokes for Folks Bicycle Co-op, and Anthony Hannagan, who started the nonprofit bicycle business Townie Bicycles in 2004. They helped the couple file for 501c(3) status and find a small studio space to begin Community Cycles.
"I don't think they expected it to take off the way it did," Kolbe said. "That small workshop has become a real gathering place for bike enthusiasts."
Community Cycles receives bikes from individuals, the Boulder Police Department and the University of Colorado at Boulder, which gives the nonprofit abandoned bikes.
The nonprofit operates on donations. Its operating budget in 2007 was $75,000. A person can become a member by donating as little as $10.
Though its programs continue to grow the facility hasn't. The shop can only hold six people, and lack of space is one of the key problems Community Cycles is facing. It is currently conducting a membership drive to raise $30,000 by March 1, 2008 to move into a bigger facility.
One of the many programs it supports is in conjunction with Boulder-based Family Learning Center, a nonprofit that helps kids after school. Points and Gingras go into low-income areas like the San Juan Del Centro neighborhood in Boulder to teach children fundamental bike mechanics and basic riding skills.
"One of the main things we teach is how to fix a flat," Points said. "From what we've seen that seems to be the leading cause for not riding a bike. We often go into those neighborhoods just to pump up tires."
Children can obtain a free bike through the Community Cycle's Earn-A-Bike program by working in the shop for 15 hours.
Community Cycles is also working with the Boulder Valley School District by giving tunups and installing bells and cargo racks on bikes at Casey Middle School in Boulder. They are also working with Pioneer Elementary school in Lafayette and Flatirons Elementary in Boulder on a bike-swap program so children who have outgrown their bikes can swap their bikes for bigger ones.
In 2008 the city of Boulder contracted Community Cycles to be the event producer for Walk & Bike Month, which includes Bike To Work Day. This marks the first time in 30 years the city has contracted the event out to someone else.
Community Cycles is also trying to break the barriers for bike commuting in other countries. In December 2006 the nonprofit shipped 450 bikes to Ghana, Africa. This was done in combination with a group in Iowa called the Village Bicycle Project. There are 110 group bike collectives like Community Cycles in the U.S., which help to facilitate bike use around the world.
"We've worked with a lot of nonprofits," Points said. "That's a unique thing about us. The core group has a lot of nonprofit experience. It's easy to get behind our cause because we're not political or religious or too controversial. We have a broad appeal."Swanson, 52, is one of those rare Americans who doesn't drive and has never had a license, in other words NOT one of the nearly 200 million people who spent an average of 100 hours a year commuting to work each year.
"People are absolutely shocked and amazed," she says, when they find out she doesn't drive. "(They say) 'You've got to be kidding! How old are you? You've been doing this all these years?'"
Swanson's mother even has a comment to make when she introduces her daughter to someone new.
"I'm her daughter who will jump out of an airplane and go cave exploring, but won't get behind the wheel of a car," Swanson says.
Wanda Pelegrina Caldas, also a non-driver, says she gets mixed reactions.
"A lot of people are like 'Oh my gosh, are you kidding, it's a joke, right?' A lot of people say. 'That's really admirable. That's really motivating me to use my bike more, to get out of my car'"
Not driving doesn't have a deleterious effect on their lifestyles.
"The best part is that I get to be out and about and not stuck in a car," says Pelegrina Caldas. "I get to see other people and enjoy the environment around me."
Pelegrina Caldas, 33, lives with her boyfriend, who also doesn't drive. She has saddle bags on her bike for carrying small loads and the two have bike trailers for larger items.
The most difficult part? Snow.
But she says bike paths get cleared relatively quickly, and she lives less than 2 miles from her job at Columbine Elementary. If biking isn't possible, she can always walk.
Although, she says: "I don't find the weather gets bad enough."
Swanson's husband has a car, but she was single for many years, living car-free in car-loving Los Angeles for several years and in Denver.
Of her L.A. years she says: "There were buses and trains, all sorts of ways to get around. The thing then was to buy a pair of roller blades. I used to zip down to the beach and roller blade to work about 2 miles away."
Wherever she lived, she made sure she was close to work and to bus lines. She calls Broomfield "a little iffy" when it comes to transit, but she can call for transit and walk to the grocery store and work.
Pelegrina Caldas thinks biking can be faster than commuting in a car.
"If you're on a bike path, you don't have to wait for traffic lights. There are underpasses, lots of shortcuts," she says.
How does a person end up a non-driver in this car-obsessed culture?
Swanson grew up in Montana near the Canadian border. She took driver's education in high school, but found driving terrifying.
"Every time I got behind the wheel, I would break into a sweat. The driver's ed teacher would make me do it," she says. "I passed (driver's ed) with flying colors, but I was never interested in getting my license. So I never did. I always learned to get around without it."
The last time Swanson drove was when she was in her 20s, traveling with a friend who was so sleepy she needed relief at the wheel.
Pelegrina Caldas grew up in Puerto Rico and started to learn to drive, but had older friends who always drove her. She went away to college, thinking she'd learn later.
But her awareness of the environment grew.
"People were talking about climate change. I realized I didn't want to drive," she says.
Should they ever change their minds, learning to drive at a later-than-typical age, is not difficult for most people, contrary to the common perception, driving instructors say.
Michael Pettiford, president of Go 4 It High Performance Schools in Louisville, says the degree of difficulty depends on whether a person has been aware of the driving environment. Even if the would-be driver hasn't, he can still learn, Pettiford says.
"We just break (the task) down into smaller and smaller pieces," he says.
However, older drivers are not a big part of the company's business, which teaches high-performance driving, as well as how to drive in the slow lane.
Pettiford shouldn't expect Pelegrina Caldas or Swanson as customers.
"I don't have any plans to drive," Pelegrina Caldas says.
Swanson feels the same way.
"It's my way of thumbing my nose at the establishment."
Contact Camera Staff Writer Cindy Sutter at 303-473-1335 or sutterc@dailycamera.com.
sometimes, i just wanna be alone. no, i'm not mad. i'm not sad and i don't need/ want cheering up. oh and is it really necessary to say, "come on don't be a party pooper. we were busy today too" or ask "what's the matter? waht can i do to make it better". nothing is the matter except i am feeling and wanna be antisocial. nothing personal against you unless you keep insisting and make me make it about you.
i work a lot and have to deal with hearing lots of fucked up things and trying to help people cope with that in a world that seems less and less friendly is hard. It wears on me and sometimes my brain just wants to be numb. i wanna be tofu just sitting there bland, boring and opinionless.
i don't wanna talk. shut up your voice is poking at my raw nerves. i don't wanna play nice nice and i certainly don't wanna be drawn outta myself. just leave me alone and go on with your day. sometimes i wanna be asked, but not so you can solve anything just because (sometimes) it's just nice to be asked. other times, stay away.
it's ok to be ornery. it's fine to be pensive and quiet. it's normal. i've never signed any contract that promises that i'll be 100% miss sugar dumpling all the time. and please, don't tell me that i am even better when i am in a foul mood...that i am a riot because sometimes i am quite funny when i am in a funk. in fact, i make a point of being grumpily funny, but this is not one of those times.
i just wanna be a bitch and not be told to snap out of it nor be told that everything will be better tomorrow. everything is just fine today. i just don't feel like being leader of the outgoing wagon today.
yes, i am having an i don't like green eggs and ham day and i don't wanna be reminded that maybe i do. i just wanna be alone until i bounce back to my miss everyone likes me because i am so cool ole self.
i don't need/want you to save me. today, i don't wanna save the world. altho someone really should, but today that someone ain't gonna be me.
Nothing to look at here, folks. Move along.
