Happy New Year! Greetings from the RBH Board! Hope you and your bikes are getting some extra miles in taking advantage of the unseasonably warm winter weather that has been surprising us around here from time to time. But then that bitter cold returns signaling a great time for some indoor bike maintenance! We are happy to report that RBH is still benefiting from our indoor shop space at 10 N. Washington St., so please do stop by and get some help with that bicycle tune up or help someone else to do the same. Our supply of used parts and components is organized now and we might just have what you are looking for, but regardless looking is still half the fun. On the other hand, if you have used parts or bikes that you are willing to donate stop by with those too, we will put them to good use. Stopping in just to admire the bikes and say hi is also welcome, you will likely find others who appreciate a "bike chat."
We are very thankful for the volunteers that have been showing up on a regular basis at our open shop hours over the last year to put the "community" in community bike shop. Thanks to their efforts we have been able to build a good inventory of bikes for the Rockville TERRIFIC Kids bike giveaway in May. We also continue to donate adult bikes to Montgomery County's Bike Match program and have been able to help welcome a few Afghan refugee families to Rockville by providing them with bikes for transportation and recreation. Thanks to the time contributions of these volunteers we have also been able to keep a steady supply of refurbished bikes available for sale. Those bicycle sales, and the sale of used parts, helps to pay our insurance, rental and new parts costs so that RBH can continue to get refurbished donated bikes back into the community, and be a dependable source of help with bicycle maintenance and repair.
This year we are pleased to announce a new opportunity for you to support the work of RBH. We are launching a new RBH membership program, complete with swag, through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rockvillebikehub
Please consider choosing one of three membership levels: Bicycle Supporter, $5/month; Bicycle Patron, $10/month; or Bicycle Friend, $20/month. Each level comes with its own thank you gift, RBH magnet, t-shirt, or one hour working on your bike with a mechanic. Our hope is you will stop by the shop to pick up your gift so we can also thank you in person. In addition to providing payment details, the website offers an example of what each level of support allows us to purchase for our donated bikes.
Continue to visit our website for upcoming events: https://www.rockvillebikehub.org/event-page. Regular open shop hours include Tuesday and Friday evening and every other Saturday, but visit the website to confirm hours. Sophie and I will continue hosting a monthly Women’s Wednesday event the fourth Wednesday of every month from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. For the next few months we would like this to be a volunteer event to work on bikes for the kid's program. No experience needed, we will teach you as we go and it is a great way to build a skill set to work on your own bike. Please do register for open shop times and the Women only events on our website (see "Upcoming Events" under "More" and click on the event to register) so we can monitor attendance and, as needed, keep participation to a safely manageable number.
RBH exists for the bicycling community, all of it, newbies as well as seasoned riders and “wrenchers” (an endearing term for bicycle mechanics). And together we bicyclists help the City of Rockville and Montgomery County shine as an outstanding place to call home. Take care of yourself, ride your bike; take care of your community, help someone else ride too.
Connie Bertka
RBH Treasurer and Founding Board Member
