RE-Cycle: And The Winner Is......

Yesterday was quite a break from the norm! We had many visitors coming in to say their hellos with a bevy of them being some returning faces from way back in the day! Still rediscovering us after long absences but it's good to hear that the bikes they bought from us so LONG ago are still up and running and giving their owners joy to this day. One serendipitous incident yesterday, was akin to two honored enemies meeting again on the battlefield after a long absence. Not the customer mind you, the bike. Let me explain.
Back when we first started doing this out of our garage on North Highland, even before we were really committed to making it a serious business (and I was under the false assumption I'd be called back to work any day) we would scavenge material to use from a variety of sources (YES...legal ones!) One afternoon, on the way back from New Port Richey, and ANOTHER job lead that dead ended, I was on the bus coming down a side street onto Main street in Dunedin. As I stared absent minded out the window we passed by a small house to the East and I noticed three bikes piled on the side of the road near the next mornings trash. Excitedly I rang for a stop, got off , grabbed my bike from the bus rack and quickly backtracked to the treasure find for fear another scrapper would reach it before me. Mind you, this was back when I was younger and WAY more fit then I am today. Probably would throw out my back if I tried it today! My find consisted of two 20" kids bikes, and a 26" neon green Huffy dual shock mountain bike that later came to be referred to as "Lucifer". I was, at the time riding a late 80's Huffy Hard tail, luckily with a rack and some bungees. I strapped the two kids bikes across the back, and hoisted and strapped the Huffy to my back, and proceeded (with some strain and a multitude of "Stop and adjusts") the remaining four miles home. Once there and unloaded I commenced work on the new additions. The kids bikes were easy enough, needing only the slightest of tweaks and adjustment's. But Lucifer was another story. Now mind you, we were in our infancy as a shop. I'd had no real experience with bike repair before we got in the biz, what little I had was limited to the basic of upkeep. We had not yet acquired the "Park Tool's" repair guide, and I was only using the most basic of mechanical know-how I possessed to get the work done! (heck! Before I discovered there was such a thing as a crank puller I USE to think the only way to get a three piece crank set off of a spindle was to whack it with a 5 pound sledge until it popped off!) SO this new acquisition was a TRUE test of skill and resolve. Let's just say, what now only takes us a scant couple of hour to accomplish, then had become a three day endurance trial of EPIC proportions laden HEAVILY with a myriad of tyrannical bouts of "Daddy language" laced hysterics! One problem solved only lead to more to be overcome. But finally after three days of having to "Put it aside and walk away" it was finished. No sooner did I have it complete did a gentleman come and purchase it. Oddly enough, I felt a twinge of remorse to see it go so quickly. Akin to a mother, after a long and arduous labor, having to watch her child be carried away. (OK...maybe not THAT dramatic...but you get the point) SO it was with a mixture of fear and respectful awe that I saw Lucifer come back into our shop yesterday.  However, any initial reservations I had were quickly squelched, for two reasons. First, the needed repair was only a mild adjustment to the rear derailleur. The second reason was WAY more profound! The gentleman who had originally purchased the bike was not the same gentleman that stood before me. That is to say, he had changed dramatically. See, for the most part, I remember bikes much better then people, sad to say. But in this gentleman's case I DO remember him. With all due respect accorded to him, when we first met it was in the early evening of a fall day. He had walked to our house from the bus stop, and as gently as I can state, he seemed somewhat "Worse for wear". Very thin, less then clean, appearing somewhat strung out he had obviously "Hit the bottom" as they say. According to him, as he haggled the price, he had been in jail twice for drug related charges. The second time a longer stay. Now released he was in a treatment program and living at HEP. As part of his treatment he had to gain and retain employment. He only had a small amount of cash and the wait list at HEP for a bike was too long. He needed transportation NOW in order to look for and secure work. Although having heard tales spun before, there was a slight ring of genuine to his story.   So I sold Lucifer for about $20.00 less then the sale price, hoping I wasn't being "taken". When he came in yesterday, William told me the rest of his story.
After acquiring the bike (remember this was in '08 at the height of the financial crisis) it had taken him almost a month of going to day labor to get even a temp job. He was honest when he told me that during that stretch there were several times he contemplated trading the bike for a fix. But he persevered, obviously with no small help from his counselors and "group" After working a little and getting a paycheck or two under his belt, he stated the cravings became less and less. After a few months of on again off again work, he had changed his weekly meetings to a different time (to better fit his work schedule I assume) and there befriended another older man. This gentleman was a subcontractor for a construction firm , battling substance abuse as well. As they got to know one another and he learned William had some remodeling and tile experience, he offered him a position on his crew for an upcoming commercial job. At first the work was sporadic but it was enough to show Williams family that he was changing. They allowed him to move back home in late 2009. There, even though he had other transportation available, he had grown accustomed to riding his neon green Huffy wherever he needed to go. In 2010 the company he'd works for began to expand their reach and started taking contracts out of state. He found him self more and more away from home but still, for the most part, brought Lucifer along to get around after hours. Eventually, having reached the position of site foreman, he had a company truck and Lucifer joined him less and less until finally it was stored in his parents shed. It was in 2012 when the Hurricane hit New York he and some of his crew volunteered to go and assist. While there, several long term rebuilds were contracted with him in the lead. It was also in this time he met another young volunteer from Connecticut, Jenny. Working together, seeing each others fortitude in such grave situations apparently ignited a spark and they were married this past April. It was in August they got the news that Jenny is expecting.  They returned to Florida last weekend (apparently the soonest they could get away from their responsibilities there) to announce in person to his parents the good news. It was while here he was to collect his belongings as they are , at least for the time being, returning to the New York area. Going through his things he "rediscovered" his old Huffy and according to him a flood of memories, both good and bad, hit him. He stated that it was that bike that not only allowed him the freedom to get his life back on track, but gave him a constant urge to overcome, eventually becoming a symbol of his perseverance. As he was finished reminiscing and loading it into the truck he accidentally damaged the derailleur, hence his visit.
Now forgive me for being a tad bit metaphysical about the whole thing but here's how I'm gonna view the whole thing. At a trying moment in my own life battling a variety of unknowns , I found a challenge to overcome, one that I COULD effect the outcome of, albeit a small one in comparison to his but through that battle perhaps I imbued that bike with a wee bit of my own desire for success. And in doing, it gave him something tangible to hold onto, to infuse it with his own desire to overcome. I wish you the very best of success in your life, William. And for you and Jenny I wish you all the happiness you so richly deserve!
On to other happenings. FINALLY we have a winner of our "Blatantly Manipulative Sales Gimmick!" Congrats to Charlie for being our "Tenth Customer Of The Day" yesterday! He walked away with his purchase FREE!!! A total value of $32.00 is his, ON US!
So step right up and try your luck folks! Be the tenth paying customer today and every day through the end of the month and YOU TOO will walk away with FREE goodies!!!
Now on to work! Angi came down for lunch and to hang out for awhile yesterday afternoon so I had to pretend like I actually do work around here, you know "when the boss is around"! Actually got stuff done and built up two new goodies! One of them being a donation we got in on Sunday. I have NO idea why this kind gentleman considered this find trash, but we welcome the "gimmie".   A pre-Wal-Mart Schwinn BMX, proving Schwinn USE to make good bikes! Also a light weight aluminum "Hard Tail" mountain bike!
Today we are onto...not sure, but got several to choose from!
So get on out and head in here to get ready for the weekend!
See ya soon!