Photo and Text by Antonio Cueto Gonzalez
It started as a garage project in 1997. The idea was to release fixed-up yellow bicycles around town for anyone who needed free and convenient transportation. Twenty-two years later, Austin’s Yellow Bike Project has evolved into a story of success that has earned the non-profit organization its iconic place in the city’s celebrated culture. The Yellow Bike Project is a 501c(3) non-profit organization with a simple yet ambitious mission: to get people on bikes in Austin.
Austin’s Yellow Bike Project volunteer, Dawn Horton, examines the tightness of bicycle wheel spokes by using a turning stand. May 2, 2019. 
A customer and a volunteer coordinator, who double-duties as a shop clerk, inspect a restored bike one last time before taking it home. Austin, Texas. April 25, 2019. 
A volunteer scrambles through an assortment of hardware and pieces, looking for a pair of matching handlebar mirrors. Austin, Texas. May 9, 2019. 
Volunteer, Stephen Piyor, struggles to find where to put a misplaced airhorn among the crates full of strayed bicycle accessories. Austin, Texas. May 9, 2019. 
Volunteer coordinator Rob Greenfield teaches volunteer Kalina Guerra, 8-years-old, how to use a wheel turning stand. Austin, Texas. April 25, 2019. 
Enrique Mejarada works on his earn-a-bike, using a chain tool to attach links to fit correctly. Austin, Texas, May 2, 2019. 
A customer of the Yellow Bike Project searches for a replacement for his wheels among repurposed rims. Austin, Texas. April 25, 2019. 
New sprockets are added to a cogset by a coordinator who teaches a volunteer how to repair a freewheel cluster. Austin, Texas. May 9, 2019. 
Volunteer Garrett Man raises his hand to call for a coordinator’s assistance; Juan Padilla unseats a tire bead from its rim. Austin, Texas. May 9, 2019 
Volunteers, workshop attendants and coordinators work in their respective bike stands at the Yellow Bike Project during open workshop hours on a Thursday eventing. Austin, Texas. April 25 , 2019.