Pedal Power
At the front of the small, cluttered store Tim Herlihey lounges on a seat that might have been extracted from an old Volkswagen van. He talks softly on the phone, discussing the possibility of teaching basic bicycle repair to members of a neighborhood organization. He hardly seems revolutionary. But Herlihey, owner of Uptown’s Urban Bikes, is a self-described anarchist-entrepreneur.
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Three years ago drug dealers used the same storefront to sell crack. Herlihey watched from his temporary home down the street as police dismantled the drug ring and left the space empty and in disarray. The neighborhood was rough, but Herlihey felt at home. For ten years he’d been living in his car, under bridges, or in a Catholic Worker house that provides services for homeless men and women. “I needed a community,” says Herlihey, and the neighborhood needed Herlihey.
Herlihey was already accustomed to playing the role of bike man. After graduating from high school in Elmhurst, he embarked on a year-long trip around Europe, fixing up bicycles in exchange for food and places to stay. Once he returned to the States he spent a few years traveling back and forth between Chicago and Boulder in an old bread truck, where he kept a supply of bicycles for sale or trade. In the early 80s Herlihey returned to Chicago and was homeless until he finally found a room at the Catholic Worker; he held down various odd jobs and helped people fix up their bikes in the Worker’s garage.
“If you live in places where you can bike to work, the money stays in the community. A closer system means you’ll be able to work near your kids. People still recognize that there is something essential in having and knowing your neighbors.”
Though Herlihey is modest about his influence over the people around him, he remains optimistic about the future. “I think people recognize that living in a society defined by cars is destroying our society,” he says. “People will realize that it doesn’t have to go that way, that they have to change to make a saner society. Eventually people will use bikes more to do their shopping and go to work. Bikes make a difference in how people live. And people can change the world. They can do things that will make a difference. This bike shop is here to make a difference.”
