Riding on Shine with Bike App
This fall Bike App hosted the Grand Opening of their new Bike App Trailer. Bike App originated during the 2014-2015 academic year simply as a group of students volunteering their time to complete repairs on bicycles on the Appalachian State campus. The university found merit in the program and in the 2016-2017 academic year began to fund student employment positions for Bike App. However, Bike App still did not have a place to call home and students were at the mercy of the weather when setting up their tools on Sanford Mall.
University Recreation and the Office of Sustainability saw an opportunity with Bike App to promote a healthy, sustainable lifestyle for the Appalachian community. A donor was secured to fund a permanent home for Bike App, and many entities across campus came together to decide how and where to make the trailer happen. Primarily designed by undergraduate and graduate level students, the Bike App Trailer is a self-sustainable solar-powered bicycle workshop. Any excess power produced by the trailer’s solar panels is sent into the Appalachian grid. Staffed by students Bike App provides free bicycle tuning, repair, and educational clinics to the Appalachian community.
Located across from Katherine Harper Hall, Bike App host regular free tuning hours during the academic year and is open to the entire Appalachian community. For more information or to get involved, visit op.appstate.edu/bike-app or contact Valerie Kankiewicz at breyve@appstate.edu.