Past Articles

Person of the Month: Andrew Yee

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019

SVBE welcomes its General Manager, Andrew Yee

Father, husband, engineer, businessman, certified bike nut?

Take your pick, he is all of the above and as of now, he is the new General Manager for the Silicon Valley  Bicycle Exchange. I had the opportunity to sit down with him today and dig into what makes him tick and how he is going to assist us in making our program even more successful. 

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Persons of the Month: Nikolay and Kostya

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 30 September 2019 30 September 2019

On September 7^th the Bike Exchange had its semi Annual Bike sale. I have never seen so many people intent on buying a bike from us. We had a line 6-8 deep waiting to hand us money practically from the time we opened. I guess the word has gotten out that there are some fantastic deals to be had. All true!

As I tried to do my best Ralph Sport Sport (of Sport Sport Motors) imitation, a big bear of a man introduced himself to me. Nikolay and his son Kostya are originally from Moscow. They moved here to the states when Kostya was three and now live in Palo Alto. Kostya is in the 5^th grade at Baron Park Elementary school.  

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Volunteer of the Month: Nilay

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 01 September 2019 01 September 2019

The bike Exchange is getting to be a world-class organization, attracting folks from far and wide. In far-off India in the city of Kolkata, Nilay M was born. Little did he know at the time that his family would move halfway around the world and he would find himself in Palo Alto California, but since the 7th grade, this has been his home. 

Nilay currently attends Gunn High School. His favorite subject is automotive technology, where he has been engaged in real hands-on learning. His class acquired a Mazda RX7 race car with a blown engine and somehow managed to shoehorn a Ford Mustang 4-liter v8 engine into it and make it work. Amazing! 

Read more: Volunteer of the Month: Nilay

Volunteer of the Month: Lauren Z

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 04 August 2019 04 August 2019

Wednesday is becoming the new Saturday at the Bike Exchange.

Last week I arrived at 11 am and almost every station was occupied. Old friends and new faces and everybody swaying to jazz on the sound system.  Looking around for a victim, I realized that I had never interviewed Lauren Z, so let’s meet her.

Lauren was born in Chicago. Her Engineer father and legal Secretary mother had the good sense to move to Denver soon afterward.  Lauren loved everything about Denver (except the snow) and thrived.  An athlete, she played volleyball and soccer and was good enough to get a volleyball scholarship to prestigious Rice University. Once there she soon realized that her academic studies in Chemical Engineering had to take precedence.

Read more: Volunteer of the Month: Lauren Z

Volunteer of the Month: Harry C

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 27 June 2019 27 June 2019

Harry hails from Nottingham England, and assures me he is no relation to the evil Sheriff of Robin Hood fame.
  
Back in Blighty his father always biked to work as did so many of his generation. For his part, Harry rode his bike to classes at the University of Southampton, where he studied to be a software engineer like his dad.

He has been in the states for 3 1/2 years, landing a job at our favorite Mega Corp., the big G, where he hooked up with fellow Googlers who volunteer at the Bike Exchange. 

Harry is active in his church and also enjoys fencing. If the poor peasants of Nottingham shire ever need a champion, he’ll be ready to head to Sherwood Forest and get the gang back together.

Learn more about the superstars who keep SVBE rolling through our previous featured volunteer spotlights!

Volunteer of the Month: Ahmed

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Written by Lauren Z. Lauren Z.

Published: 01 June 2019 01 June 2019

Ahmed has been volunteering at the Bicycle Exchange for about three months. He likes to fix road bikes (like what he rides) and kids bikes. His goal is to become proficient in fixing his kids' bikes. Right now he is honing his skills on adjusting derailleurs and likes to get a bike indexing just right.

Ahmed was born in Somalia but grew up here in Silicon Valley. When not volunteering, he likes to spend time with his young children at museums, the zoo, or parks. His favorite place visited was London because of the deep history, the castles, and the culture. He loved the multi-cultural food available and the museums. He also enjoyed a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theater. Ahmed recommends a local Somali restaurant - Jubba in San Jose.

Learn more about the superstars who keep SVBE rolling through our previous featured volunteer spotlights!

Volunteer of the Month: Jack G

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 01 May 2019 01 May 2019

The Bike Exchange has expanded a lot recently. Today I am talking to one of the folks who work here during our new Wednesday hours.

Jack is one of that rarest of breeds, a native San Fransiscan. Jack grew up locally and was always liked mechanical stuff, especially bikes. He attended Menlo Atherton High, then 2 years of junior college before transferring to Chico State where he got a BS in Physical Sciences. His first job out of college was with Perkins Elmer (he didn’t work on the Space telescope mirror). Then it was on to Varian in Palo Alto where he worked on Sputtering (plasma coating).

He has been a hard core mountain biker for years. He loves to ride his Santa Cruz Blur on the open space trails off highway 35 in the Santa Cruz mountains. Deciding he wanted to do something for others after retiring, he did an internet search and found the Bike exchange. He hooked up with Jack and now is one of our Wednesday regulars.  

Learn more about the superstars who keep SVBE rolling through our previous featured volunteer spotlights!

Volunteer of the Month: Kevin

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Written by Jonny Jonny

Published: 01 March 2019 01 March 2019

Lately I have had a number of conversations with our volunteers from the Veteran’s Administration. They are all great folks and worth getting to know.  Today I sat down with Kevin. 

He grew up in San Jose, was a Life Scout, and attended junior college where he went through the EMT certification program while working at Home Depot. At age 27, he joined the Army and became a medic.

During his time in the service he was stationed in Afghanistan in Ghanzi Province and the Andar district among other places. Fortunately he made it out of there in one piece but back in Cali he fell on rough times and wound up homeless for a while. 

He eventually hooked up with the Veterans Administration, which got him into housing, and started on the road to recovery. It was there he met Rebecca and through her was introduced to the shop. 

Kevin has become a regular here, always willing to help out and to share his knowledge with others. He is a long time rider and enthusiast and has a bunch of bikes, including a Specialized Langster track bike. 

When not helping us at the shop he enjoys riding around San Jose and going on the Bike Party rides.  Sometimes, life deals you a few bad hands. Kevin is proof that if you stay in the game the cards can start to run in your favor again.  Glad to have you aboard, brother.  

Learn more about the superstars who keep SVBE rolling through our previous featured volunteer spotlights!

Volunteer of the Month: Carol M.

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Written by Lauren Z. Lauren Z.

Published: 24 April 2016 24 April 2016

There are some really amazing people who volunteer at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange. This month, meet Carol M. Carol has been volunteering at the exchange for 9 years, and was originally introduced to the group by Doreen Y.

After volunteering for awhile, she decided that working at support tasks would be a good way to contribute. She assists with sign-ins, donations, and just about everything else. Over the years she has learned about tools and processes and is often able to help volunteers find what they need. She likes talking to donors and learning about what brings them to us.

Read more: Volunteer of the Month: Carol M.