The Great Holiday Bike Build

Everybody remembers the first, gleaming new bike they received for Christmas. Unfortunately and especially during these tough economic times, not all kids are lucky enough to get a shiny bike from Santa.

Sue Runsvold, a nurse in San Jose, Calif., knows how those unfortunate kids feel. Growing up in Southern California, she says she never had much as a kid. So about five years ago, she set out to make sure disadvantaged kids could get their feet on some shiny new pedals at Christmastime.

What started out as a holiday bike build in a parking lot is now a massive event that fills a convention center hall the size of an aircraft hanger. On Dec. 12 her organization, TurningWheels for Kids, hosted more than 600 volunteers who built about 2,200 bicycles for needy kids of the area.

The bikes aren't refurbished hand-me-downs or spruced-up old clunkers. They're brand new, shiny Diamondbacks, Raleighs and Magmas in all colors and sizes — from tiny bikes with training wheels to big rock-hopping mountain bikes with suspension forks.

"I'm the queen of hand-me-downs," says Runsvold, wearing antlers and beaming with energy. "If they're going to get a bike from TurningWheels then by God they're getting their own bike, and it's a bike that hasn't been ridden by anyone else before, and they're going to claim it and own it. On the other side, we discovered it's not cheap to refurbish a bike. It makes more sense to get them new. And it's a Christmas present — it should have a big bow on it and be brand spankin' new."

Organizers say they spend about $75 on average per bike — impressive considering the quality and quantity of the bikes as they're put together by teams of builders, young and old, from all over the region. There were volunteer bike industry teams from the likes of Specialized and Fox Racing Shocks, corporate teams from Juniper Networks and Frito Lay, and community and cycling teams from all over the region.

Joe Latino of Baton Rouge, La. serves as Raleigh bikes' western region manager and was manning the Raleigh tent. Like all the bikes at TurningWheels, Raleigh and Diamondback offered the organization steep discounts on their products.

"Being a sales guy, you know, I'm usually busy selling," he said as he turned a bolt on a bike's gears. "But this is getting back to what got me excited about bikes in the first place, getting dirty and putting a bike together. And sharing this with other kids is just so much fun."

Santa's elves couldn't have run this operation more efficiently and smoothly. At about 11am, organizers on a stage announced the final boxes containing the unassembled bikes had been cleared. They started only three hours earlier. As boxes were crushed and sent off to recycling — the event is practically zero-waste — a sea of newly built bikes started to form on the West end of the convention hall, waiting to be picked up by one of about 30 local charities.

Over the din of the big crowd of bike builders, organizers continuously announced big monetary donations from various corporations to keep everyone fired up. A raffle for builders and a huge pizza lunch kept them going strong throughout the morning. Kyle Walden, 15, was there with the Fox shocks team and had won a chopper-style custom bike in the raffle.

"I've been doing (TurningWheels) since it was in the back of a van," he said, still excited that he had won the radical-looking bike. "This is just so awesome."

While running Turning Wheels, Runsvold also has a day job as a nurse at the area's Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The bike build goes beyond just giving kids a feel-good Christmas present — she wants to see active, healthy kids and providing bikes is a great way to keep them from sitting still. TurningWheels has partnered with a variety of medical and healthy lifestyle organizations to help get the message out.

"Other than the feel-good part of this ... you have kids that are watching TV and playing video games, and as a nurse I see and I know what the outcome of that is," she says. "The stats are that one quarter of all children are overweight in the US, and that's an appalling number. Children being diagnosed now with type 2 diabetes — that's called adult onset diabetes from being overweight and sedentary."

Runsvold listed a number of horrible outcomes for diabetics as they get older. "What we need to do is step up as a community and get these kids back outside doing what they're supposed to do, which is play."

Runsvold says she never expected the TurningWheels event or organization to grow so big or impact so many people. But she says the group has its sights set on deeper community engagement, like starting bike repair clinics and group bike rides and using them to have personal conversations with kids about school and life. After all, a bike with a flat tire is a retired bike, she says. And besides, with that kind of caring outreach she thinks the kids have a better chance at escaping the cycle they're in.

"Do we make a difference to everyone who gets a bike? Heck no. Do we make a diff to some percentage of kids? Oh yes," she says.

TurningWheels had trouble meeting the community's needs this year, having to turn away about 800 requests for bikes from needy kids. Runsvold says demand was up about 25 percent over last year. To make a donation to TurningWheels for Kids, click here.

Runsvold encourages other communities to start similar bike builds. She says,  "It doesn't take a lot from a few people. It takes a little from a lot of people."

Photos by Steve Enders