By Colin Minor
Campus bicycle co-op Bike Root is seeking support from students, staff, faculty and most of all the University of Calgary in their campaign to regain a dedicated space.
Bike Root was asked to vacate their Murray Fraser Hall loading dock shop space in late July. On Nov. 7, Bike Root closed their temporary shop space for winter. The storage container they were operating from is unheated and without electricity.
“We weren’t going to have any way to make it feasible. We were sad to close it up but it had to be done, the tuning tent that was also on campus was finished two weeks ago,” said Bike Root officer Talia Wells. “In the meantime we would love for people to go to the Good Life.”
Good Life is a community bike shop located in Eau Claire market.
Bikes can still be repaired on campus at the Outdoor Centre, but cyclists must pay for the service. The Bike Root shop previously had volunteer mechanics teach members to fix their own bikes free of charge with new or recycled parts. Bike Root is no longer charging for memberships as they have no services to offer.
“Over winter our main goal is to try to find the support and work together with the office of sustainability and with the university to find a new space for us for the spring,” said Wells.
The Bike Root is hosting a meeting to rehash the mission and vision of The Bike Root on Nov. 14. Anyone involved with the co-op is invited to come and give input.
“We basically just don’t want to pass a mission or a vision that isn’t agreed on by all members of the Bike Root community,” said Wells.
Bike Root is currently circulating a support petition on campus. The petition can be found at the Bike Root table in ICT between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Nov. 17 and a printable version is on the Bike Root website.
“I think what we really want to do is engage with people one-on-one when we are getting them to sign the petition,” said Bike Root officer Susie Carmichael.
Bike Root recognizes that any positive progress requires U of C support. They see Bike Root tying into the sustainability goals of the U of C.
“I think it is just really important that people don’t feel that the Bike Root has any sort of animosity towards the university because we don’t,” said Wells. “It really was just that we were in a space that was no longer feasible for us to use.”
Bike Root is in a period of change and is seeking support from members new and old.
“We are a group of people that are moving towards a goal that we think is best not just for ourselves as a group but for the university,” said Wells.