Trail Ramblings: How The Bike Kitchen Was Cooked Up.

The following is an account of how it came to be, by Pepe Fierro.

When I came to Lincoln in April of 2004, I lived in the alleys and parking lots of Lincoln (mostly in the near south and Everett neighborhoods) for a bit. After settling into an efficiency in Everett, it wasn’t long before my vehicle broke down. I pieced together a bicycle from different bikes that I had found in the trash and I commuted from 12th/F to 30/Pine lake for a while. I did notice after a bit that there were college students walking to UNL, and adults waiting on busses to get to work. A thought came to mind. If a bike could help me. What can a bike do for students and adults without transportation. So in 2006. I started dumpster diving and hitting up yard sales and thrift stores for bikes. I picked up anything and everything if I thought it could provide someone transportation.

I would fix them up to the best of my ability at the time and started leaving them at Jones Coffee (Now Cultiva on 11th) and at Meadowlark with a “Free Bike” sign on them. By then I had moved into a 1 bedroom apartment. I acquired a vintage camper which I parked in the alley at 13th/C across from Everett. That became my little bike shop. People in the neighborhood soon found out what I was doing and I started finding bikes/parts leaning against the camper. In 2008 when I opened Pepe’s, I started Bike Barter Saturday. Bring a bike, parts etc. and get a burrito. I thought I would get few takers. I was wrong. I had several takers. I had to find a bigger apartment with a garage and I did, at 19th/Dakota. After a while even that place was outgrown. By then I had started meeting people in the community. At a permaculture meet up at a friend’s house, I mentioned my issue and we decided to have a meet up at Pepe’s Bistro in Havelock. At the meeting we decided to have a bike giveaway at Peter Pan Park on 10/10/10.

The bike giveaway was a success but I knew inventory would keep growing. Carol Smith offered a little house that she owned that was planned to be torn down to make a food forest. I asked her for how long and what could I do with it. She said as long as you need and whatever you need it for. I went straight to Meadowlark coffee and made a Facebook page. I tagged small businesses and did a call for volunteer mechanics. That Sunday I had the first few volunteers. Adam Hintz saved the day by helping transport the bikes in his truck. The bike Kitchen was born. In 2012 after a great team was in place, I stepped away so I could focus on the restaurant. The Bike kitchen will be 14 years on Oct 10, 2024. But it’s real birth was in 2006 in the Everett neighborhood. So actually 18 years!! Wow.

The bike kitchen wouldn’t be where it is now if it weren’t for all the amazing volunteers and bike mechanics that have come and gone over the years. A young man recently stopped by to thank me for the bike kitchen. He had applied at all the bike shops in town. No one would hire him. He volunteered for 5 years and learned a lot. He has now been a bike mechanic for 7 years.

I saw a need that needed to be fulfilled. I didn’t let the lack of experience back then stop me. Neither should it stop anyone one else. Knowledge is a lifelong experience. When you take the first steps in the right direction, it will inspire others to do the same and perhaps give them fulfillment. Look at the Bike Kitchen now and all the different volunteers.