A few days ago, I dedicated my 100-mile fundraising bike ride for Phoenix Bikes on Aug. 25 to my father, who died on July 28. It was to be an event in honor of the man who first taught me to use tools and instilled a belief in myself that I could fix anything (or at least try).
Today I am doubly dedicating the ride to my mother Becky Dunbar as well. She died on Aug. 5, just 8 days after my father.
In addition to being one of the kindest, loving, and friendliest people I ever knew, Becky was a teacher who put others' needs in front of her own. She believed in education, but didn’t get her college degree until she was 37, after having four kids, attending several colleges part time and at night for more than 10 years as we moved around the country. She pushed on and earned a master’s degree in seven more years and began teaching in the Anchorage public schools.
When she finally got a full-time position, she specialized in teaching the students who had fallen through the cracks (read more in the old newspaper clip below). She taught the students in residential programs, the trouble-makers and rebels who had been booted from the mainstream, and did it with a loving patience that most of us just don’t have.
When I think of Phoenix Bikes, I think of a place that is first and foremost a classroom for all kids (including some rebels and trouble-makers) who want to learn about bikes, community, and self-reliance. I want to make sure it remains a strong and healthy organization to serve the community and kids for years to come, and that is why I ride again.
Becky believed in this place, too, and was always among the first to donate when I would sign up for this ride. She will be missed, and I ride in her honor, and the honor of my father.
(Hanks tribute below)
Henry
--Hank's Tribute--
Hello Friends:
I've been in a very reflective mood the past week since the passing of my father, Henry Sr., or Hank as everyone called him. While I admit we didn't have the closest father/son relationship in the world, there were many things I do appreciate and will miss about him.
He was of course the first person to teach me how to use just about every tool know to man, and I am forever grateful for the time we spent building many things. His resourcefulness and jack-of-all-trades abilities were things I admired and have tried to emulate to the best of my abilities.
If you wonder where I got my desire to re-use every scrap of material, it was probably from him. In the 1970s, he and some friends once bid on a demolition project to tear down an old fire station at the nearby Air Force base. They won the project and for the next several weeks, along with Hank and his partners, my brother and I were conscripted to being job hands in taking apart the fire house and hauling all the material back to our house. Most of it, including the over-sized garage door, was used to build our shed and garage, both of which still stand more than 40 years later. I think it may have started then.
Many of the skills we picked up on those jobs sites were transferred to our passion for repairing our own bikes over the years, and having the tools and knowledge passed down from Hank made it possible.
That's part of why I think Phoenix Bikes is so important. Few kids today have access to the tools and knowledge of dedicated adults being passed on to them, with the passion for fixing things, and re-using perfectly good materials.
As I have written to you before, I am riding 100 miles in the August heat - the 5th Annual Kennan Garvey Memorial Ride - to raise $5,000 to help Phoenix Bikes buy a new van.
I am dedicating my ride this year to my father.
Click the link in the first comment to support this effort.
I hope you'll consider making a donation of any amount to help me reach my fundraising goal! You can learn more about this great event at http://www.phoenixbikes.org/kgmr2018
Thanks so much for your support!
Henry
--Original Message--
Join me as I ride to support Phoenix Bikes, a nonprofit organization in Arlington, VA with a mission to educate youth, promote bicycling, and build community. I'll be riding 100-miles on August 25 to raise funds to keep Phoenix Bikes rolling - please help me make every mile count by donating today! We serve over 500 teens annually with youth bicycle education programs offered for FREE, year-round.
One of those kids is Omar, a 13-yr-old whose family immigrated from Pakistan a few years ago and lived around the corner from me. He used to to come by the shop after school as a drop-in member, and learned a few basic skills. He loved the program and his mother, Sadia, would always gush about how much it had changed him for the better. Then they family moved out to Leesburg before he could finish the program, and I figured that was it. I hoped we would keep honing his skills, but I knew it would be tough where he lived as there was no program similar to Phoenix Bikes.
That was more than a year ago. But on Fourth of July, I saw Sadia in the neighborhood and she stopped me on the sidewalk. "I have to tell you what Omar has been doing,",she said. She proceeded to describe in detail how Omar loves to ride on the W&OD trail, which stretches from Arlington to 10 miles past their home Leesburg. But more than riding, Sadia said he loves to help peoople fix their bikes. "He stopped a girl the other day who had a problem with her chain, and asked her if she would let him ifx it. And he DID!," Sadia gushed some more, much to the surprise of her and the little girl.
It is for kids like Omar, that I give my sweat, time and money to this organization. Please join me again this year to help Phoenix Bikes create a few hundred more Omars for our community.
Henry
P.S. a Coda if you want to read some more.
First, thank you to the many.many generous donors who helped me over the past three years to raise ofer $10,000 to help Phoenix Bikes get ready to move into our new home at the Arlington Mill Community Center. That build-out is underway and should be complete shortly after this year's ride. If you are around in early September, please plan to come to our ribbon cutting celebration (details TBD).
So now we are riding to get them a new vehicle to sustain and grow their programs. The Black Pearl, the 2000 GMC Safari mini van they purchased used in 2015, is now 18 years old and high in mileage. Although we strongly prefer to roll on two wheels, a reliable vehicle is vital to program operations in terms of transporting students to/from school-based bike clubs, transporting junior race team members to races, acting as a support vehicle for special events and rides, picking up and delivering bike donations, and beyond. Additionally, the current vehicle, although it has been extremely useful, lacks the passenger and cargo capacity we need. Therefore, we are raising funds for a newer and larger vehicle like the Ford Transit 350 passenger van pictured above.