Tool People Doing Tool Bike Things

Tenny and Kathleen with Durango Tool Library

What sparked the idea of starting a tool library? 

We had benefited greatly from the Vancouver Tool Library (VTL) in Vancouver, BC, where we were Library and Information Studies students. Living on a field mouse budget in a tiny burrow of an apartment, we couldn't afford, let alone store, any of our own hand or power tools. For years we created and repaired using tool loans from the VTL.

We were antsy, we craved more sunshine, and Canada wanted Tenny out. We moved around and finally settled in (not for) Durango in 2017. We weren't seeking to start a tool library in Durango but, after a few years, we thought that Durango might sustain a tool library of its own.

What motivates you? What do you do to keep going when times get tough?

Each other. Dancing. Trails. And if all else fails, a night of deep and thorough drinking.

Why do you think bicycle education is important (bicycle repairs, maintenance, education classes, etc)?

We are lucky to live in a town that has a ton of really good bike 

shops with top notch mechanics. That said, as cyclists, the more we know about the routine maintenance our bikes require, about diagnosing issues and repairing our own bikes, and how to move safely and confidently around town, the more resilient and independent we become and the more we will ultimately enjoy riding.

What kind of biking do you like to do and why?

Tenny: If it's got two wheels, I'm happy to ride it to work, on singletrack, in traffic, on tours, or on the Animas River Trail for a lazy cruise. 

My best solo adventure happened to be a bike tour across the U.S. (and Canada), from Anacortes, WA to the 'boogie-down' Bronx, NYC. It was the happy culmination of all the vaguely useless skills and experiences I had acquired–being carless, hitchhiking across the US, managing a dysfunctional community bike shop, and thru-hiking the A.T. From this pedigree, I figured I could fix my bike if it broke. And if I couldn't fix it, I could hitchhike to where I could get it fixed. And if I couldn't catch a ride, I knew I could walk…and walk…and walk. I was also comfortable stealth camping just about anywhere, absorbing into any urban, suburban, rural, or wild landscape with aplomb. No worries for two months–just pure biking joy.

Kathleen: I didn't embrace biking until grad school, when I adopted a bike from an East Van alley, and swapped crowded bus rides for sopping bike rides. I've favored my bike for commuting and running errands ever since. I've also come to enjoy mountain biking and bikepacking–starting mountain biking here in Durango and starting bikepacking on the C&O Canal, a former canal towpath leading from Cumberland, MD, to Washington D.C..

What is something you love about biking in Durango? What is something you think could change?

Tenny: Durango's off street bike facilities, like the river trail, are off the chain!. That said, my chode would handily thank the city for promptly repaving sections that suffer from gaping chasms. Bike racks at parks and open space trailheads would be killer, too. 

Kathleen: To love: the weather. Year round, we can bike more often than not. To change: bike parking at grocery stores. As someone who regularly loads my bike with groceries, I'd appreciate more functional bike parking close to our grocery stores.

What are some plans you have for the library?

We want to foster a paradigm where sharing a collection of tools makes more sense than everyone owning the same tools and hardly using them. In the meantime, we will continue to grow the breadth and depth of the tool collection and create supporting resources for each tool in the catalog. We're going to begin hosting maintenance and repair workshops this month, starting with bike maintenance and education. And we hope to form lasting alliances and friendships with individuals, organizations, and businesses who share our vision for a sustainable future.

What advice, or what would you like to say in general to the cycling community in Durango?

Tenny: Cycling communities the world around are cliquey. It would serve all cyclists well if we remembered that we're all pretty small stacked up against a world that privileges, well, not cyclists or pedestrians. Two wheels and saddle sores unite us–don't forget that. Live your best life on your bike and Ed Abbey's words won't be written in vain: "...You will outlive the bastards."

To learn more visit www.durangotoollibrary.com

or follow along on IG @durangotoollibrary