![This shelter is being built by the Lions Club just off the trail near the new subdivision being built on Church Street West.[Whitney Neilson / The Observer]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/post_news_bikestation.jpg)
Cyclists in Elmira can now fix their bicycles on the trails thanks to a bike repair station installed by the local Lions Club.
Club member Mike Mayne said the idea for the station came from avid cyclists Dave Brown and his wife.
He said they came to the club in late winter with the idea and offered to donate a large portion of the cost, which came to $2,000.
They agreed to donate much of the funds if the club would order the parts and install the cement work, which the Lions did.
The service club finished the installation in late spring, and it’s been well-used ever since.
“I pretty much walked off the job and it was being used,” Mayne said of the response to project.
He said Brown came across bike repair stations on one of his cycling trips to Europe and decided to bring the idea back home.
“It’s a station that you hang your bike off,” Mayne said. “You can blow up your tires. There are different hand tools, you can do minor repairs.”
He said the project was a club effort. The repair station is just off of the trail on Arthur Street North across from Elmira Pet Products. He said they chose that location because it’s the entrance to the Lions’ portion of the trail and the memorial forest.
“I was down a week ago, looked at the top and paint was worn off. It’s well used.”
He noted while nothing is vandal-proof, it’s quite heavy-duty.
They’re also working on a bigger project building a shelter, where the trail leads to a new subdivision. It’s framed and now they’re waiting for steel. He said they already have money allotted for the project.
“That’s a rest area for people using the trail,” Mayne said. “For seniors, it gives them somewhere to sit down.”
