Working Bikes founder Lee Ravenscroft (left) and volunteers search for bike parts to recycle.

Lee Ravenscroft: A Mechanic with a Cause

by Mike Green

Lee Ravenscroft, 50, bikes more than nine miles every day to and from his Oak Park home.

“I use my bike for transportation,” Ravenscroft said. “I bike to shops and to the train station daily.”

Ravenscroft received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, specifically computer systems, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He then worked as an electrical engineer for 12 years with ComEd, under the Contemporary Control Systems and Rockwell International Telecommunications divisions.

“I have always been technical,” Ravenscroft said. He has also always been interested in using his technical skills to help people. Throughout his life, Ravenscroft has donated much of his time to humanitarian aid.

“I used to collect sewing machines and send them to Central America with the Pastors for Peace,” Ravenscroft said.

Ravenscroft also combined his interest in machinery and generous interest in humanitarian by working in Nicaragua one month every year from 1986 to 1996 with the National Engineering University. For 15 years, he was a member of the Nicaragua Solidarity Committee.

In 2001, he founded Working Bikes Cooperative. The organization collects and repairs old, run-down bikes and sells them in Chicago at low prices. The money earned from the sales goes toward sending shipments of bikes and bike parts to developing countries.

Ravenscroft’s idea for Working Bikes came from similar organizations such as Bikes Not Bombs in Boston and Bicycles Crossing Borders in Toronto.

“It was difficult until we rented our warehouse,” Ravenscroft said, referring to the early days of Working Bikes when the organization was run out of a dark Pilsen basement. However, it was never difficult for Ravenscroft to find people willing to give their free time to repairing old bicycles for a good cause. “There are many bike enthusiasts in Chicago,” he said.

Ravenscroft has been a full-time organizer and technician behind Working Bikes.

“Bikes are the most useful and valuable items discarded in the United States,” Ravenscroft said, “Most development organizations do not consider bikes to be humanitarian aid.”

Ravenscroft set out to prove these organizations wrong, that bicycles help increase mobility to move goods and services; they provide significant relief in developing countries. He will continue with his efforts for another year or so until the Working Bikes Cooperative is a well-established non-profit organization, with paid mechanics.