By: Georgia Witt
Bicycles are a great way to get around. They make you feel more connected to your surroundings, allow you to enjoy the weather on a beautiful day, and are a solid form of exercise. For many people, riding a bike is mainly a hobby reserved for the occasional Saturday. But for some, bikes can be life changing.
Garfield “Garf” Cooper is the owner of ZenCog Bicycle Company, a Riverside bike shop that was founded in 2010. Shortly after opening ZenCog, Cooper started The Honey Pot Bike Collective (HPBC), a non-profit organization that operates in tandem with the bike shop.
The HPBC is a non-profit recycling company with a bicycle focus. Old bikes are either donated to or picked up by Cooper and his volunteer crew, repaired in-house, and redistributed to the community. A majority of the bikes are donated to community members in need of free transportation, but some are bought as a form of donation to the organization’s funds.
Prior to opening ZenCog and the HPBC, Cooper experienced firsthand the life-changing power of bicycles. At 28 years old his hip collapsed, leading to a four-year period of painkillers, wheelchairs, crutches, and a cycle of surgeries and recoveries. One day, fed up with the pain, Cooper told his son that they were going to try to go for a bike ride.
“And so, he goes out, and he gets my bike that’s been sitting for four or five years in a shed, pumps up the tires, and we went for a bike ride,” Cooper said.
“And in that moment, everything changed. Everything in the world. I was mobile.”
The mission of the HPBC is to provide that mobility and sense of freedom to anyone in need of it. For Cooper, the joy of his work is not only found in providing bikes to the community, but also in creating a welcoming space for volunteers.
During open hours, the HPBC doors are wide open to anyone who wants to drop in and learn how to repair bikes. For volunteers, the down-to-earth atmosphere of the HPBC has provided them with a sense of community. The work itself has also given them the pleasure of gaining new skills.
“That’s what we do here,” Cooper said. “We try to get somebody who’s maybe never even touched a wrench, or maybe they’re coming from a different field, but get them to fix a bike and ride it down the street. When that happens, it’s marvelous.”