We had a shipping party last week! Newsletter subscribers, confused because you didn’t get an email? This party was on the road, in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Working Bikes founder Lee Ravenscroft and board member Trevor Clarke made the two and a half hour trek from Chicago to Champaign to help The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign load a shipping container on Wednesday, April 16. The container is now en route to CESTA in El Salvador.

 

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***Bikes await packing at The Bike Project’s storage space, the University of Illinois Agriculture warehouse.***

 

In past years Working Bikes has transported a couple hundred bikes annually from The Bike Project to our warehouse, where they were shipped with other bikes collected locally. But this year The Bike Project collected so many bikes that moving them would have been impractical and inefficient.

In the weeks and months before the shipment, volunteers from The Bike Project prepped hundreds of bikes by removing pedals and turning handlebars. The prep-work made for a very smooth loading day. Lee, Trevor, The Bike Project shop manager James Roedl, University staff member Tina, and several Bike Project volunteers loaded the truck in just four hours, from 10am to 2pm.

 

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***A dedicated donor delivers bikes to Urbana-Champaign. This photo courtesy of Bryce Davis of The Bike Project.***

 

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***Without a shipping dock, the team used industrial spools for some improvised leverage while lifting.***

 

The crew fit 413 adult bikes on the container, including a small load of 19 bikes that Lee brought down from Chicago. A big thanks to The Bike Project for their longstanding partnership and for letting us be part of their first onsite shipment. Thank you also to Jeff Yockey, president of Champaign County Bikes, who, just one day after serving as the host and organizer of the fantastic 3rd annual Illinois Bike Summit, got up early to get us the wood we needed to form two levels in the container!

 

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***Working Bikes board member Trevor Clarke loads a blue cruiser.***

 

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***Day is done!***

 

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***Lee loads a pick up with kiddie bikes (which weren’t shipped to CESTA) for the return trip to Chicago.***
Photos courtesy of Trevor Clarke and, where indicated, Bryce Davis.