“I can’t do a lot, but I can do this and I enjoy it.”
That’s how Mike Styer, who has taught Ada junior high social studies for 14 years, sums up his bike fix-up hobby that sends all its proceeds to the Hardin County Relay for Life.
Styer’s father died as a result of cancer in 2008. After his father’s death, the Ada teacher decided to get into better physical shape. To make a long story short he began entering triathlons. In those endurance events competitors swim, bike and run.
“The more I competed I began to get better and better bicycles,” he said. During this “upgrade” he started fiddling with bike repairs. And those repairs turned into a donation for a worthy cause.
“Most bikes come from parents whose kids outgrow them,” he said. “When a bike is donated to me I fix it up and sell the bike. The proceeds from the sale go to the Relay for Life.”
His Relay for Life bike project started in 2010 and he says that he’s donated at least $1,500 since that time. Those donations resulted from the repair and sale of nearly 100 bikes.
Styer joined a Relay team who calls themselves Parrot heads. “We have created poker runs, hoop shoots and the bike project,” he said about his team’s fundraising efforts.
Steer has worked on tandems, adult bikes, kid’s BMX bikes and mountain bikes. A tandem he is repairing will be raffled off this year for the Relay.
Working on bikes requires space for storage. Styer says he works out of two garages and his basement. “One garage is full of bikes needing repairs. The other is full of bikes being worked on. One storage area is for bikes finished and ready for sale,” he said.
The for-sale bikes end up in his front lawn during the summer. “My supply is a bit down at the moment, so I’m looking for bike donations,” he said. “And, I’ll pick bikes up from persons who donate them.”
Persons wanting to donate bikes may contact him at 419-675-0579 or at [email protected].
The Hardin County Relay for Life takes place at the Hardin County Fairgrounds in late July.
