An English professor is helping students find a more affordable and sustainable means of transportation.

Joel Westwood has been collecting bikes for more than 20 years, building what he calls the “bike library.” He created the library in 2002 after overhearing a group of Swedish international students at a bike shop in town who expressed interest in buying a used bike.

“I started getting bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on bikes.”

When the group of Swedish students came back the next day, they brought three students from Belgium along with them who also needed bikes. What started as helping one small group of students turned into helping 70 to 100 students per year through word of mouth, Westwood said.

“Students would just start showing up semi-randomly to see about getting a bike from me,” Westwood said.

Westwood said his bike library is open to all students who send him an email or respond to his Craigslist ad with their height, weight and the amount of money they are willing to spend.

Each bike runs for an average of $150 to $180, but Westwood said he is willing to work with students on a price that works for them. After first contact, they can set up a time to meet with him at his house.

“I have in the back of my property 160 bicycle frames stored,” Westwood said. “I go select a frame, that’s the proper size … and then I sell them the bike.”

After selling them the bike, Westwood buys the bike back after they are done with using it and he takes off $10 per month of use. He then cleans the bike, repairs it and gets it ready for the next student.

Westwood said he does not offer much room for customization because he buys and resells used bikes, however he said he will find a frame that best suits the student’s height and weight.

Westwood said his “ultimate aim” is to get those who live near campus on a bike during their time at Cal Poly.

Westwood argued that statistically “there are only three people who ride bicycles” — students, “wannabe Lance Armstrongs” and those who rely upon bicycles as their principal form of transportation. Because of this, he said he wants not only students to ride their bikes, but locals as well.

“My aim is to A) really try and encourage students to cyclo-commute particularly in kind of the radius where a large percentage of the students live around here; and B) to hope that the local community will jump on board with being more cycling friendly,” Westwood said.

Although he said he wants to see an increase in the amount of cyclists in town, Westwood said he is most passionate about change on Cal Poly’s campus.

“I could rant about how un-bike-friendly this campus is,” Westwood said. “There aren’t enough bike racks, there are these prohibitive ‘walk your bike’ areas… and even getting to and from the dorms is not necessarily eased or facilitated by the way that we’ve set up the roadways and arterials.”

Westwood said his goal is to create a bike library system on campus utilizing the funds from the Associated Students Inc. (ASI)’s fee structure that is already in place.

He said if he had his way, he would first give out-of-state students, and eventually all students, the opportunity to get a bike when they first move into the residence halls. He would then train people on going through the process of determining the right size bike for the student to ride as well as how to fix them throughout the year.

“My intent is to get students on bikes, to reduce traffic congestion and to enhance the overall quality of life in the area,” Westwood said.

On 03/06/2023 04:04 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> An English professor is helping students find a more affordable and sustainable means of transportation.
>
> Joel Westwood has been collecting chav-bikes for more than 20 years, building what he calls the “chav-bike library.” He created the library in 2002 after overhearing a group of Swedish international students at a chav-bike shop in town who expressed interest in buying a used chav-bike.
>
> “I started getting chav-bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some chav-bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on chav-bikes.”
>
> When the group of Swedish students came back the next day, they brought three students from Belgium along with them who also needed chav-bikes. What started as helping one small group of students turned into helping 70 to 100 students per year through word of mouth, Westwood said.
>
> “Students would just start showing up semi-randomly to see about getting a chav-bike from me,” Westwood said.
>
> Westwood said his chav-bike library is open to all students who send him an email or respond to his Craigslist ad with their height, weight and the amount of money they are willing to spend.

"spend"???

Heavens to Betsy!

There's a flaw in the model straightaway.

Chavs-on-bikes want everything for nothing.

> Each chav-bike runs for an average of $150 to $180, but Westwood said he is willing to work with students on a price that works for them. After first contact, they can set up a time to meet with him at his house.
>
> “I have in the back of my property 160 chav-bicycle frames stored,” Westwood said. “I go select a frame, that’s the proper size … and then I sell them the chav-bike.”
>
> After selling them the chav-bike, Westwood buys the chav-bike back after they are done with using it and he takes off $10 per month of use. He then cleans the chav-bike, repairs it and gets it ready for the next student.
>
> Westwood said he does not offer much room for customization because he buys and resells used chav-bikes, however he said he will find a frame that best suits the student’s height and weight.
>
> Westwood said his “ultimate aim” is to get those who live near campus on a chav-bike during their time at Cal Poly.

In which part of the UK is this "Cal Poly"?

All the polytechnics were upgraded to university status back in the 1980s.
>
> Westwood argued that statistically “there are only three people who ride chav-bicycles” — students, “wannabe Lance Armstrongs” and those who rely upon chav-bicycles as their principal form of transportation. Because of this, he said he wants not only students to ride their chav-bikes, but locals as well.
>
> “My aim is to A) really try and encourage students to chav-cyclo-commute particularly in kind of the radius where a large percentage of the students live around here; and B) to hope that the local community will jump on board with being more chav-cycling friendly,” Westwood said.
>
> Although he said he wants to see an increase in the amount of chav-cyclists in town, Westwood said he is most passionate about change on Cal Poly’s campus.
>
> “I could rant

Gerraway!

A chav-cyclist ranting?

It's surely never been known.

or is he auditioning for a commission from road.cc?

> about how un-chav-bike-friendly this campus is,” Westwood said. “There aren’t enough chav-bike racks, there are these prohibitive ‘walk your chav-bike’ areas… and even getting to and from the dorms is not necessarily eased or facilitated by the way that we’ve set up the roadways and arterials.”

And of course, the pedestrians (which those rules protect) don't matter
at all, do they?
>
> Westwood said his goal is to create a chav-bike library system on campus utilizing the funds from the Associated Students Inc. (ASI)’s fee structure that is already in place.

Well, anything is better than expecting chav-cyclists to pay out of
their own pockets, I expect.
>
> He said if he had his way, he would first give out-of-state students, and eventually all students, the opportunity to get a chav-bike when they first move into the residence halls. He would then train people on going through the process of determining the right size chav-bike for the student to ride as well as how to fix them throughout the year.
>
> “My intent is to get students on chav-bikes, to reduce traffic congestion and to enhance the overall quality of life in the area,” Westwood said.

What traffic congestion?

QUOTE: “I started getting bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on bikes.” ENDS

We do the same for asylum seekers - much to the dismay of the local racist gammons.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> QUOTE: “I started getting bikes and then having them around the house and
> then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some bikes
> you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and
> I got them on bikes.” ENDS
>
> We do the same for asylum seekers - much to the dismay of the local racist gammons.

Would you like a link to Gammon’s web site?

They sell swivels…

--
Spike

On Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7:32:48 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> QUOTE: “I started getting bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on bikes.” ENDS
>
> We do the same for asylum seekers - much to the dismay of the local racist gammons.

They don't seem to mind the local chavs getting JSA and PIP though.

When Gammons first saw the Jo Cox murder story break, they got hard ons, thinking a Muslim had did it.
Then, when they found out it was a white Scottish 'patriot' bigot who'd done it while shouting 'Britain First', they lost all interest.
'was just a lefty MP, Meh'

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> When Gammons first saw the Jo Cox murder story break, they got hard ons,
> thinking a Muslim had did it.
> Then, when they found out it was a white Scottish 'patriot' bigot who'd
> done it while shouting 'Britain First', they lost all interest.
> 'was just a lefty MP, Meh'

You mention gammons a lot, haven’t you visited their web site? They sell
swivels…

--
Spike

On 03/06/2023 07:52 pm, swldx...@gmail.com...

....pretending only to answer himself,said:

> On Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7:32:48 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

>> QUOTE: “I started getting chav-bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some chav-bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on chav-bikes.” ENDS
>>
>> We do the same for asylum seekers - much to the dismay of the local racist gammons.
>
> They don't seem to mind the local chavs getting JSA and PIP though.

I'm not surprised that you get JSA. The PIP must be a result of your
short flight a few years ago?

On Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7:32:48 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> QUOTE: “I started getting bikes and then having them around the house and then I met these international students and I said, ‘[I have] some bikes you could probably use,’” Westwood said. “They came over to my house and I got them on bikes.” ENDS
>
> We do the same for asylum seekers - much to the dismay of the local racist gammons.

My daughter lives at a spot where they're housed in an old university halls of residence - the bikes are well used and appreciated.