Years in the making, a resource for Northeastern Pennsylvania's cycling community will officially open its doors this weekend.
And you don't even need to have a bike.
The new Cycle Kitchen cooperative in Scranton is a fully volunteer-run tool library and repair classroom for cyclists. A grand opening and celebration is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 19 at Connell Park, 800 Gibbons St.
“It’s about keeping stuff out of the dump, teaching people how to ride cycles so that they have a means of transportation and teaching people a skill,” said Gene McDonough, president of the Anthracite Bicycle Coalition, which spearheaded the project with volunteers.
On offer at Sunday's event will be bike inspections, helmet and bell giveaways, maintenance courses and free ice cream.
McDonough learned about the cooperative community model while working in Arizona several years ago.
“I came back to the [cycling] group that was holding us together [in NEPA] and said, ‘Guys, I got the magic bullet here to bring the community together and help people out,’” McDonough said.
First, they needed a location. Scranton Parks and Rec agreed in 2022 to let McDonough’s group repurpose a storage building slated to be demolished at Connell Park. The year prior, Anthracite Bike Coalition convinced the city to use the demolition money for a mountain bike ‘pump track’ at the park.
It has been a labor of love, McDonough said. For the past two weeks, volunteers have spent dozens of hours at the park. They prepped the building and organized inventory for Sunday’s celebration.
They expect to give away about 25 children’s bikes. There are relatively new bikes; others that are decades old and just need some TLC; even a tandem bike – "a bicycle built for two," as the old saying goes. The only thing that’s left is to teach the community about the benefits of hopping on two wheels, he said.
“The cost of cars, cost of insurance, cost of gas – we forget that driving is a luxury,” McDonough added.
The group also wants to improve infrastructure for cyclists in and around Scranton. A recent walkability study suggested bike lanes for downtown.
To start, the Cycle Kitchen will be open Mondays from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon. McDonough says those open hours will likely expand in the near future.
“Other places might call it like a community bike shop,” said Kuba Jennes, a volunteer mechanic with the Cycle Kitchen. “‘ReCyclery’ is a word that kind of gets used a lot.
“The goal here is to kind of teach you how to do your own repairs using our tools, and we have volunteers that will be here and able to kind of guide you through it, so in the future you're going to have the skills to address this yourself.”
That could be a flat tire, broken chain or loose bike seat. Volunteers have built bikes from scratch and say they’ll be ready for most issues that come their way.
“We also kind of operate a bike thrift store,” Jennes added. “Even if you don't have money, we let people come in and do some volunteer work for us. You kind of get a little hourly store credit for doing that that you could then use for parts, a new bike or whatever you need here.”
For Sunday's party, Anthracite Bike Coalition said it partnered with local bike shops, Leadership Lackawanna, Scranton Area Community Foundation, the City of Scranton, Scranton Parks and Rec and Fidelity Bank, who’s supplying the ice cream.
