Operation Bicycle
Adrian Palender spotted Lucas Stevenson’s talent right away. Lucas was in high school at the time and showed up at Operation Bicycle to work off a citation for not wearing a bicycle helmet: community service repairing bicycles. Lucas is currently in community college, but he still comes back to repair bikes a few days a week. Now a skilled mechanic, he also fixes cars. This is one of many success stories Adrian has collected since starting Operation Bicycle.
When Adrian approached Teen Services in Sonoma in 2012 with the idea of opening a community bike shop, they offered him their basement and some tools stored there, including a big, industrial bicycle repair stand that Adrian still uses today. So began an after-school bike repair program for teens in Sonoma. Adrian volunteered his time and had no budget. People donated bikes; kids could learn to fix them and keep the ones they fixed. Word spread, donations rolled in and more people started bringing in bikes to be fixed, some paying for the service. Adrian was working multiple jobs to support himself, including running a pedicab company that offered wine tours. Teen Services organized a fundraiser to start paying Adrian and an assistant. Soon afterwards local developer, Marco Vailetti, offered space in a new small shopping center he was developing, just a block away. Within two years Operation Bicycle moved into the new space, where it still resides.
Operation Bicycle is a full service bicycle shop and more. Now owned by the Sonoma Valley Boys and Girls Club, it has a staff of seven: Adrian, an assistant and five teens who work part time, receiving pay and job training. They host free DIY bicycle repair workshops every Wednesday evening, attracting people of all ages. Some kids come just to put decorative spoke covers on their wheels; some build an entire bike from scratch. As part of their free valet service at the Sonoma Farmers’ Market, they do free basic bike tune-ups. Partnered with Sonoma Adventures, a local bicycle rental shop, they offer organized bike rides for teens. They’ve helped Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition map safe routes to school. In the shop, they find ways to reuse everything: innertubes and tires go to auto shops, metal goes in a dumpster for metal recyclers, if a customer wants a bag, they get “whatever plastic bag is lying around.”
No shortage of teens wanting to work at Operation Bicycle! Every three months, at “Ready to Work” workshops run by Teen Services, Adrian interviews ten kids, giving them valuable interviewing experience and enabling him to fill internship positions as they open. Adrian feels lucky to have a job he enjoys so much. The most satisfying part is when someone comes into the shop and learns something mechanical, and then someone else needs help and that first person teaches the next person. Pass it on! You can help too, by purchasing a second hand bike or bike part from the shop.
Adrian Palender was interviewed by Heath Massey for this issue of Reuse News
Resources for Secondhand Bikes and Bike Repair:
Shop second hand bikes + parts at Operation Bicycle in Sonoma, or The Recyclery in San Rafael.
Or search ‘used bike store’ to find a place near you!
The average bicycle requires 153kg CO2e to make. Trek has good data and a used bike program called Red Barn Refresh.
Upcoming Events
March 8 : Novato Repair Fair + Clothing Swap
Our next Repair Fair is coming up on Saturday, March 8th from 1-4pm at the Novato City Hall. If you have an item in need of repair you can register it at the link below. Or clean out your closet and trade in your things for some new to you clothes at the clothes swap. Remaining items will be headed to the new Flipside Thrift Store in Novato. Interested in helping out? We can always use general volunteers in addition to Repair Coaches! Email volunteer@reusealliance.org or sign up here !
March 15 : Mill Valley Repair Fair
Come celebrate the ides of March at our Mill Valley Repair Fair. If you have an item in need of repair you can register it at the link below. This is a big beautiful space so we will have lots of reuse activities, upcycling crafts, t-shirt printing, drop off for the upcoming Mill Valley Clothes swap, solar panel reuse information from CPSC, and more! We can always use general volunteers in addition to Repair Coaches! Email volunteer@reusealliance.org or sign up here !
March 16 : Do I Need This? Film Screening and Panel
Save the date for a screening of Kate Schermerhorn’s beautiful film ‘Do I Need This?’ about aging and our relationship to one another and our things. The film will be at 4pm on Saturday March 16th at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Stay afterwards for a panel including the filmmaker and Reuse Alliance’s Executive Director.
Opportunities
February 20 from 5:30-7pm : Did you know you can get Repair Advice at the Belvedere Tiburon Library the 3rd Thursday of every month?
March 1 : Proposals due for the annual Build Reuse Conference, Aug 4-6, 2025
March 5 at 12pm PST : Executive Director of Reuse Alliance, speaking at the SRJC Environmental Forum
March 10 from 10am - 12pm PST : CalRecycle Grants 101 Workshop
March 12 at 5am PST : Global Reuse Summit. Early birds (or those in the EST) can stream it live.
March 18 from 9am - 5pm PST : Network at the NCRA Recycling Update in Oakland, CA.
Read our Strategic Plan!
Reuse in the News
The FDA has issued a supplement to the Food Code expanding and clarifying guidance for reuse and refill.
Check Out Denver’s New Reuse Directory. Does your city or town have one? We’d love to hear about it! Or if you know of an office building to farm reuse.
A new poll shows 85% of U.S. voters support increasing the use of reusable packaging and foodware.
Curator Carlo Ratti Calls for a Circular Venice Architecture Biennale. Maybe they can use the new Circularity Score.
Reuse to Amuse
Do you enjoy watching things be restored? Then bikespeeds is for you. 1973 Triumph + 1981 Bianchi
Reuse is like magic. Railcars into bridges. Tennis balls into furniture.
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