A couple of weekends ago I began the battle of the gut. I bought myself a nice used bike from Blackstone Bicycle. It’s one of a number of non profit bike shops around the city of Chicago that refurbish and sell bicycles. This particular shop has the added goal of teaching kids in the surrounding neighborhood how to pick up some mechanical and business skills.
While I was in the shop being helped by one of the young adult employees, there were lots of kids on the premises as part of their Youth Bicycle Education program. While I was there some kids were putting spare parts in bins, others were getting repair instruction from the adults and one young lady trainee rung up my purchases (bike, helmet, bike lock and replacement seat for the wife’s bike).
A bunch more kids were taking a nice Saturday break playing basketball against the fence. Someone showing some obvious mechanical improvisational talents, strapped a big plastic paint/chitterling bucket to the fence. They had a soccer ball doubling as a basketball for the afternoon. (Brought back lots of fond memories of alley basketball from my childhood).
The Blackstone Bicycle shop is one of the arms of the Experimental Station which is the actual 501c-3 non profit organization. It’s located in a nondescript stretch of Blackstone Avenue at 61st Street right across from the University of Chicago steam plant.
If you’re looking to get your body and health back in gear but you’re not a runner then a biking is a good place to start your efforts. Having places like Blackstone Bicyle as a resource means you don’t have to begin with Olympic caliber hardware either. Take a little extra time to search out a place like this in your community and start with something simple . You can work on improving your health and your corner of the world all at once.
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