With the world seemingly falling apart around us, I found myself wanting to do something more than just take pictures of my bike. Somehow that felt like it was a remnant of another time where I all I needed to care about was going on a long bike ride or what bar end shifters I wanted to try next.
I have been reading a lot lately about how all of these compounding crises all seem to have one common cause: the “growth or die” model of capitalism. Faced with a choice between the planet I live on and a socioeconomic system that seems to have left me and everyone else behind, the choice is pretty clear. We have to start doing things differently.
That is why I am starting a new part of Dirtbag Cycles. So far I’m calling it “Dirtbag Cycles Repairs,” the goal is to strengthen my community by building resilience in the face of economic and ecological collapse. Dirtbag Cycles Repairs is an Earth-first, non-hierarchical, intersectional Eco-socialist bike repair project that puts both people and the planet before any profit.
Simply put, I want to help people ride bikes and I don’t want it to be a part of the socioeconomic paradigm of late-stage capitalism.
The vision is for road-side bike repair. On days that I’m around, I’ll help out with anything from changing a flat, getting sized up on your bike, checking brakes, safety checks, teaching maintenance, and giving route advice. I’ll also be doing larger repairs by appointment.
While eventually I hope for an anarcho-communist revolution and the abolition of money, that is not the world we live in right now. To keep the shop up and running, I’ll be using a Pay What You Can model, based on the living wage for the Comox Valley (where I’m located). In 2019, this was calculated at $15.97 per hour (fun fact, B.C.’s minimum wage as of June 2021 will be $15.20 per hour). Small jobs will be PYWC, and we can figure it out for bigger jobs.
This sliding scale is so folx who do not have the means can still have a bike that runs safely, while those that can help can still put a few dollars towards maintaining the shop. I’m also happy to work for trade, and will happily accept six-packs, home made pickles, kombucha or a flat of eggs for a brake adjustment. Bigger projects will also be discounted for BIPOC and WTF and young folx. Unfortunately since I am not independently wealthy, any parts will be at cost either from a local shop or online. We can talk about it if that applies to you.
I’ll try and reuse as many parts as possible, keeping perfectly good, but dirty or rusty, parts out of the landfill and reducing our reliance on global trade and the carbon footprint associated with sending ships of carbon fibre across the ocean, as well as all of the wasteful packaging associated with that. Donation parts are gladly accepted to keep costs down and to divert what you can’t use from the waste stream.
I’ll also take frames and bikes off your hands, depending on the quality of the bike, how much room I have in the shed and whether or not I can turn it into something awesome.
Eventually I also hope to expand what we do to group rides, coffee rides, tours and other fun bike stuff in the valley, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic those will have to wait. In the meantime, you can check out my “Route of the Month” idea, which I started in March 2021.
Resources:
Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey
Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy - Murray Bookchin
Underminers: A Guide to Subverting the Machine - Keith Farnish
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate - Naomi Klein
The Ecocentrists: A History of Radical Environmentalism - Keith Makoto Woodhouse
How to be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi
Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada's Last Great Trees - Harley Rustad
Folx in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island can email dirtbag.cycles1@gmail.com for my location in Merville and to talk about getting their bikes fixed.
Dirtbag Cycles respectfully acknowledges that we are riding on the Unceded traditional territory of the K’òmoks First Nation, as well as the Coast Salish, We Wai Kum, We Wai Kai, Tla’amin and Homalco First Nations. We want to respectfully acknowledge these Indigenous peoples who have not ceded their lands under any treaty. Gila’kasla.