FARMVILLE — A broken bike won’t travel very far.
Fortunately for Farmville pedal pushers, the public library, police department, parks and recreation and cycling community joined forces on Saturday to offer a bicycle repair clinic.
Held at Bennett Memorial Park, the repair clinic was the fourth of its kind.
“We love holding this as a way to provide an educational opportunity and to make sure folks are riding bicycles that are safe,” said Farmville Public Library Director David Miller.
“The previous times we had it, it has always been successful. It’s been really popular,” he said.
Participants had the opportunity to learn how to perform basic bicycle repairs such as changing inner tubes and tires, installing break chains, lubricating chains and more.
“We are offering basic safety inspections to make sure people have functional bikes. We make sure people are riding safely,” said bicycle enthusiast Steven Hardy-Braz, adding volunteers also were helping with the event.
Educational components also included road and helmet safety.
“It’s important to be educated as far as riding on the right side of the road and learning how to perform basic bicycle mechanics on your own,” Miller said.
Farmville’s pop-up library expanded educational opportunities by providing books on bicycles and health, which were available for checkout.
To help encourage helmet wearing, helmets were given away to children in need.
“It’s the safety aspect,” said Maj. Jeffery Spencer of the Farmville Police Department. “We see kids all the time riding bikes down the street and they don’t have helmets. We are trying to educate them on the importance of wearing a helmet.
“And if they can’t afford a helmet or don’t have access to a helmet the police department will provide one,” Spencer said.
Participants also learned about departments in town.
“We feel this is a great educational experience,” Spencer said. “It’s a positive thing we can come out and interact with the kids and adults who come out here. With everything going on in the world right now, we thought it was a good opportunity to get everybody out in a safe environment.”
It also allowed for recreation opportunities to be enhanced.
“To host events like this betters recreation in town,” said Isaiah Lubben, parks and recreation program coordinator. “It betters the sense of community and the holistic wellbeing of people.
“We wanted to get involved because it’s at one of our parks and bicycles are a huge leisure opportunity,” Lubben said. “There are a lot of people that bicycle here in town.”
The bicycle repair clinic is just one of the town’s collaborative efforts.
“It personifies what we try to do with the community with department efforts. I think that’s huge for the community,” Lubben said.