TACOMA, Wash. — What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see guys with tattoos and black leather vests? A motorcycle club? Well, you'd be half right. It's a bicycle club called Cycle Junkies.
"We get together on weekends, we get on our bikes and we go ride," said President of Cycle Junkies, Brent Gathwright.
You will see Cycle Junkies fully vested in cuts and club colors. Gathwright tells people, if you don't see someone wearing those colors, they're not in the club.
One might wonder, why bikes instead of motorcycles?
"We're just big kids on bicycles," said Gathwright.
The bikes have a style all their own and the Cycle Junkies are proud of them.
"Most of us ride custom beach cruisers. Some are built completely from scratch."
Tough looking guys on bicycles aren't something you see every day.
"Yeah, it's really funny. The looks you get from people. They're like look at these guys, it looks like a gang of guys on a bike, they've all got vests on, they look kind of angry you know, but the truth is we are very happy."
They are happy because these tough looking guys from the Hill Top in Tacoma, put smiles on kids faces for free.
"Last year alone we gave away twenty-three bikes."
They started a non-profit to help kids get a bicycle who otherwise couldn't afford one.
"I have a 12-year-old son who has Fragile X syndrome. It's a mental handicap, but it does not allow him to balance on two wheels. So I decided to build this custom tricycle that he could ride. It changed his life."
After building his son a bike of his own, the club decided it was something they could take nationally to help other handicap kids. They are working on building thirteen-year-old Emma a bike right now.
"We cater the bike to the rider and their disability."
They custom build these bikes from top to bottom, all with donated parts.
"At the end of the day, we just know we need to be doing this. You get these moments with these mothers and fathers who really need the help and they break down, and when they break down, we cry."
They may look tough, but at the end of the day they are giving families something they can't attain on their own, and that's a reason to be emotional.
"Many of us have a very rough exterior. I mean we're bearded and bald-headed. But at the end of the day, it's all a bunch of guys with heart."
If you'd like to donate bikes or parts to Cycle Junkies in Tacoma, you can contact them by e-mail: cyclejunkiesbc@gmail.com..
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