PEDALS AND PURPOSE: What one Jackson says about the power of fixing a bike

JACKSON, Mich — Last week while taking a tour of the Sparks Building, I noticed a corner packed to the brim with bikes. Inside, I found Armory Bike Union.

• Terry Larkin has been fixing bikes for 12 years through the Armory Bike Union program.
• He works with disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities to repair bikes, then gives that bike away.
• As someone who battles PTSD, Larkin uses his personal experiences to connect with those he helps.

For Terry Larkin, fixing bikes is about much more than mechanics.

WATCH: Lansing bike repair program helps disadvantaged youth find purpose

"Well, we've been through a lot of bikes," Larkin said with a shrug. For 12 years, Larkin, of Armory Bike Union, has been fixing bikes, just as he did with his 1964 bike when he was 15. "When I was 15, I needed a bike. My dad bought me a second-hand bike and says 'If you want to fix it, you fix it,'" Larkin said.

He works with disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities to repair them, then gives the bikes away to them. "I ask them if they can find what's wrong with it. They say, 'How do we do that?' I say, 'We take it apart,'" Larkin explained.

But it's more than just taking apart the bike, to Larkin. "They make mistakes, they correct them," Larkin said.

As someone who battles PTSD, Larkin says he uses his experience when helping repair his bikes. "In that instance, I can relate to them. They've had trauma in their life. I have, so I can relate to them. I can work with them, and it sort of gives them a purpose," Larkin said.

Olivia Pageau

Taking these bikes down to the frame is more than just nuts and bolts. "It gives them that boost that they're not useless, that they're not down and out. They're not gone. They have now found a purpose. That's what I do," Larkin said.

This goes to show that some things may be as easy as riding a bike, but when it comes to putting them together, it's more about keeping the wheels turning. "I understand it because of what I've been through, so this keeps the feet on the ground," Larkin said.

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