Bikes

Free Bikes For All!

\ Jun 21, 2018

3 min read

No matter where you live or your income level, anyone can earn a free bike from Esperanza Community Bike Shop. For the small investment of a few hours of your time you can walk away with a great bike, a new helmet and all the information you need to start riding on Burque’s bike-friendly roads.

Esperanza is a community bike shop that is operated by the City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department. The main focus of the program is bicycle education, with the goal of increasing the safety, self-sufficiency and the comfort of all riders. To meet their goal, Esperanza provides classes and programs to the community free of charge. These include bicycle safety, road use and traffic law, mechanics and riding skills.

Esperanza is located at Yucca and Central Ave., at 5600 Esperanza Dr. NW, and is open Tuesday through Thursday, 3 to 8pm, and Sundays, noon to 7pm. For more information or to schedule a class the shop can be reached at 505-224-6668 or by email, esperanza@cabq.gov.

This city program is widely unknown and under utilized by most of the community. This is a completely free program available to all of Albuquerque. Esperanza offers many services including the adult and family Earn-a-Bike programs, a walk-in bike clinic, a Build-a-Bike program and a youth cycling club. Raian Harris leads the team of mechanics ready to help you with whatever you need. With their help you can have your bike up and running without having to have any tools or parts. They have it all.

Is this too far to travel? You are in luck. In August of 2017, City Council woman Diane Gibson urged voters to pass a bond to open a second community bike shop. Since that time the $400k bond has been approved. While there is no concrete information, sources state that the new shop will most likely be in the McKinley district. This area encompasses most of the Northeast Heights. Raian Harris of Esperanza is hopeful to hear news this year on the project start date. Until then head over to Esperanza Community bike shop and see for yourself what they have to offer.

Biking through Burque is an amazing way to get around and with the help of Esperanza and the City of Albuquerque anyone can have the means to do it. Go to the shop, earn a free bike and get on the road. Together with Esperanza you can make Burque a safe place to ride for all ages.