Zambia is one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Infant mortality there is unimaginable, and an estimated 10 percent of the adult population are HIV positive.

It’s quite a scene, one that has prompted Meadville resident Ben Masters, who served in the Peace Corps there for three years, to do something in an effort to give back to his community, wherever he is living.

And after spending time in a country where bicycles served as the most reliable, not to mention healthy, source of transportation, it’s bikes that Masters, 28, along with the help of fellow Meadville resident Dave Vinch, 60, is hoping to give to the Meadville-area community.

“If we can give something back, that’s what we’re after,” said Masters.

It was August when Masters, who returned here after serving in the Peace Corps from 2003 to ’06, decided he wanted to do something in the way of advocating the use of bikes as “a means of cheap, sustainable, healthy and fun transportation.” But Masters wasn’t completely sure what he wanted to do and how he wanted to present it.

So he went to the Internet and found some great ideas, including Free Ride in Pittsburgh, which Masters became particularly interested in. Free Ride is a bicycle education facility driven solely by volunteers that recycles bikes and provides them to people of all ages at low cost in addition to offering repair classes.

Masters went down and volunteered for a few weeks and decided that was, in essence, what he wanted to do back here. A computer search to find those interested in donating bikes connected Masters with Vinch, who was looking to do something similar, and from there N.W. Pa. Re-Cycle was born.

“It had been an idea of mine for a long time to do something like this,” Vinch said. “There is no lack of kids with broken bikes in this town.”



Start with the kids

Masters and Vinch are in the planning stages of the program, but have done an immense amount of legwork and have outlined five principles for the project. They want to, first, provide summer bicycle education programs for children and teach them how to maintain their bikes themselves, like changing a flat tire and replacing and/or tightening the chains.

To do this, Masters has already approached one local school district in hopes of setting up an after-school club that will promote bike use as well as train the students in bike repair. If all goes well, Masters is then hoping to take interested students and set up an elementary school program on simple bike repair and safe riding to be taught by high school students.

Masters and Vinch also want to make low-cost bicycles and bicycle parts available to people in the area. Both have sought out the donation of bikes for this use. Masters said approximately 25 bikes have already been donated. The bikes that can be repaired, will be, and then they will be sold at a minimal fee to churches and other organizations who need them.

Masters said one of the bikes he has now is going to be donated to a fire victim.

The bikes that can’t be repaired will be salvaged for parts.

Two local bike shops are already on board to offer help. Masters said Pat Emig, owner of Emig’s Bicycle Shop in Meadville, is very interested in the educational part of the non-profit organization. Linesville Bicycle Shop is also “really on board and has made a committment,” according to Vinch, “allowing the organization to purchase parts through the shop.”

Masters and Vinch simply want to offer bikes and educate the public on bikes as best as possible.

“I’m nuts about bikes,” said Vinch, a substitute teacher, who also custom builds bikes. “They’re a freedom machine. It’s just you, the wheels and the pebbles.”

“We need more of our kids out there pedalling, and less driving around,” he added. “We also want to make Meadville a safe town to bicycle in. That’s our advocacy.”

Right now N.W. Pa. Re-cycle is being housed in the basement of Masters’ grandmother, but both he and Vinch are hopeful an organization or church might step forward to offer space to host the bicycle education workshops. The co-founders are also looking for organizations in collecting and distributing recycled bikes, the donation of bicycles, bike parts, basic tools and tool boxes.

“When I was in the Peace Corps, a bike was my only mode of transportation,” Masters said. “And it was better than most of the motorized transportation available, because they were constantly breaking down. If you learned to fix a bike, if it broke down you could fix it.

“I was passing most of those on motorized vehicles.”

Masters has made an effort to ride his bike every day since. Now if he could get some more on board. One step at a time, he hopes to eventually get there.



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.



You can help

Anyone interested in donating or volunteering for N.W. Pa. Re-cycle should visit www.nwpare-cycle.webs.com or contact co-founder Ben Masters at bdmasters@gmail.com or 282-1223. The organization is in need of bicycles of all makes, models and sizes, bicycle parts and tools. They are also looking for organizations interested in collecting and distributing recycled bikes and/or willing to host bike education workshops in maintenance and safe riding.