Bobby Olsen volunteers every week with RAD Springfield Community Bike Shop to help refurbish bikes and work with the general public to fix, sell and give away bikes. RAD is open to the public on Monday afternoons from 2-6 pm.

We caught up with Bobby to learn more about his work and interests.

Hi Bobby! How long have you been coming to Make-It Springfield as a volunteer bike technician? 

Two years, I think. Maybe three…but at least two years. 

What first inspired you to check it out? 

I met Rob Thomas (RAD’s volunteer coordinator) on a bike ride. I had retired from a law enforcement career and I was looking for something to do. I’ve always loved bikes, I ride all the time and I was looking for ways to give back to the community. And, so, I met Rob just randomly at a group bike ride and he started talking about this place and he said I might be interested in volunteering. So, I came down the following Monday just to check it out, it looked good to me, and so I kept coming back.

What does it mean to you to do the work? Why do you keep coming back? 

Well, it gets me out of the house and gives me a sense of purpose in retirement. Like I said, I love working on bikes, so selfishly, I get to learn how to mechanic bikes, and not just the RAD ones, I also do my own. I like when we can give bikes away to people who are in need of transportation. I like when people come in here with bikes that need fixing and we can do that for free for some people who maybe couldn’t afford to go to a bike shop. I don’t know if there’s any professional bike shops in Springfield so some folks would have a tough time getting to one, you know? So RAD Springfield is a good resource for people. 

It would be nice if we could open up a few more days a week and we’d have more traffic. We’re pretty slow in winter, but we could help more people in the warmer weather. 

When you’re talking about welcoming more people, who else could you see coming here?

It would be nice if we had people from the surrounding area, come in, and we could help them work on their own bikes. They could use RAD tools and resources. We might need a bigger space but it would be more like a collaborative or a co-op, because typically that’s what a community bike shop does. 

If someone wanted to stop in and work on their bike for the day with you guys, would that be ok? 

Yeah, we would welcome that.

Tell me more about your bike background?

I ride bikes all the time. I used to race in triathlons and now I primarily commute, uh well, I shouldn’t say ‘commute’ because I don’t have a job. But I do a lot of bike touring and camping. I’ve gone across New York State, up to Nova Scotia, across Iowa, the C & O Canal in the DC area… 

Do you do this touring by yourself? 

I do the bigger tours with my brother. He lives in New Jersey. We rode from my house to the Canadian Border…but we couldn’t get in, because it closed down during COVID. We were camping and everything, camping all on the way, yeah. 

Yeah, that’s great. where are you from? 

I grew up in Boston. Now, I live here in Wilbraham. 

We talked about people who might want to work on their own bikes, but who else does RAD Springfield serve? 

We serve anybody who walks in with a bike, or needing a bike. We also sell bikes at a deep discount. I’d say we give away more bikes to individuals we meet through various programs than we sell, like refugee resettlement programs. I started up a relationship with a new social service agency and it’s called ANew Springfield. Their mission is to help refugees to this country who are here because they face persecution in their homelands because of their LGBTQ+ status. So far they’ve brought one person to us for transportation. They are a fairly new organization and are waiting for more funding. I know one of the directors; that’s how we established a relationship. They know when they need a bike they can come here. 

Based on your RAD experience so far, what role do you think Make-It Springfield plays in the community?

Yeah, we have a lot of repeat customers who come in with, um, flat tires is a big one, troubles shifting, loose components. People rely on us. I don’t know if the wider community knows about RAD Springfield. Right around here, I see guys out riding bikes that might need our services but I’ve never seen them come in here. Of course, maybe they work on the bikes themselves, or they have some other resource, but if not, we should tell them about RAD Springfield. 

Anything else you want to add, or any good stories? 

Oh yeah! We were on the Fabulous 413 podcast just a while ago and I told this story. I was in downtown Springfield on a Sunday, the shop was closed, but I saw one of our regular customers standing by his bike down the street from here. I asked him if everything was okay and I asked him “How’s the bike?” And he says, “Well, the front brake isn’t working.” I could see his front brake was missing a brake pad and I knew he had to go up and down a hill on the way home. I didn’t want him to have to go up and down a hill with only one brake so I invited him to come with me into the shop and I got him hooked up with a new break pads in the front, tested it and everything worked, and then I said, “Okay, come back in on Monday and we’ll look at the rest of your bike, but this will get you home.” It was a Sunday but it only took a minute to help him out. I think most people would probably have just walked by but because I recognized him and he knew I could help him with the bike, he trusted me to help him get home safe.

Thanks, Bobby, for all you do to help people with their bike needs! Come visit RAD Springfield on Mondays at Make-It Springfield.