From laps around his neighborhood to cruise ship exercise bikes, Mac McCarthy has biked every day for more than nine years — and found a way to give back to his community along the way.
The retired mechanic’s streak began on Nov. 15, 2016, when he decided to ride every day for a year. Some previous tries had ended due to minor accidents or other events, but this time, nothing has stopped him. Each day, he rides at least three miles outside, eight miles on a stationary exercise bike or 20 minutes on a trainer (a device that turns a regular bicycle into a stationary bike).
Rain or shine, at home or on vacation, he goes for a ride.
“There’s been times I booked into hotels, and it’s like, ‘Where’s your bike?’ ‘We don’t have one.’ And I’ve walked across the street to another hotel,” McCarthy said.
Many of his rides are solitary journeys through his south-central Wichita neighborhood, but sometimes he goes farther afield and pedals with groups such as the Bicycle X-Change’s urban exploratory riders. The streak is more than just a way to stay in shape or make friends, although he’s done plenty of both. McCarthy says biking brings him a special feeling.
“There’s certain times like you’re going down a hill … where it’s real curvy on the road, and you know, it’s just kind of a feeling of freedom, and you know, just kind of being a kid again.”
Helping Wichita ride
Along his rides, McCarthy keeps an eye out for bikes being thrown away. He stops and asks if he can fix and donate them to others rather than let them go to the landfill. If the owner agrees, he’ll return later in his El Camino to pick them up and take them back to his home shop for fixing.
McCarthy volunteers with Bike Walk Wichita, an organization that supports and advocates for pedestrians and cyclists and also helps provide and repair bikes for those who ride them through its ReCycle shop program.
He’s been with the organization for more than five years, through a change of location and new staff to oversee his work.
Unlike most of Bike Walk Wichita’s volunteers, McCarthy is a home mechanic, meaning he primarily works out of his own shop in his garage. He’s collected tools and knowledge over time both by volunteering and maintaining his own bikes. Usually he can fix whatever problem has nearly doomed a bike to the landfill.
“It’s amazing the level of quality that we get from individuals like Mac who have spent years and years fine- tuning their skills so that the kids that get the bikes are really safe and get to enjoy them,” Bike Walk Executive Director Holly Terrill said.
If he needs help, advice or new parts, he’ll go to the ReCycle shop to work alongside other volunteers and staff, saidProgram Development Manager Cody Custer.
“He does a lot of the same things we do, but in his own neighborhood,” Custer said. “And so we’ll see him now and when he comes in he’ll grab some parts, have some questions, drop off a couple bikes, and then he’ll drive his El Camino back out and go back into his neighborhood and do the good things.”
ReCycle offers various programs for people of all ages to receive or earn a bike. Whereas teens and adults require maintenance classes and volunteer hours to earn a bike, children can come in with their parents and receive a bike, repaired and fit to them for free.
McCarthy says the best part of volunteering is seeing the reaction when a kid gets a bike he’s restored.
“One day, I brought a bike in, a little girl’s bike, and so I’m working … and I went out to the front, and there’s this little girl, biggest smile on her face. She’s got the bike I just brought in.”
Moving forward
McCarthy says he’s aiming to at least reach the 10-year mark of his riding streak this November, but it won’t be the end of the world if he misses a day after that. He plans to continue his work at Bike Walk Wichita for the future, at least until the 20 broken bikes in his garage are gone or he can finally master fixing front derailers.
For more information about Bike Walk Wichita or ReCycle, reach out on their website or call at 316-530-2990. The shop at 325 S. St. Francis is open 2-8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 12-4 p.m. Friday to Saturday.
Zachary Ruth is an intern with the Wichita Journalism Collaborative. He can be reached at zachruthphoto@gmail.com.
