Pescadero’s premier bicycle mechanic is a woman named Every Day. She loves nothing more than seeing farmworkers riding around on bikes she has fixed for them herself. “These are folks who have a tough job as it is, and need someone who can help,” she says. Since 2012, Every Day’s bike repair booth has been at the center of Puente’s seasonal farmers’ market in downtown Pescadero. People line up for her expert attention to their bent wheels, wobbly cranks and missing brake pads. She fixes about three bikes per week – free. “People are always shocked. They say ‘What do you mean free? Free bicycle repair?’” she laughs. “It changes people. It makes them think about what it’s like to just show up and give something.” Every Day’s weekly “customers” include families with lots of children’s bike repair, as well as cycle tourists. Farmworkers, however, need the bikes to travel between home, work and town. So, they get priority. The bike booth is a new twist on a tradition of providing bicycles to farmworkers that dates to Puente’s earliest days under its founder, the Rev. Wendy Taylor. Puente has a cache of new and recycled parts that Every Day uses to fix the bikes. Market patrons donate to Puente to keep the program going. To Every Day, bicycles are about more than getting around. They represent independence and self-sufficiency. “Bicycles are a metaphor. They are a way to help us discover the things we can handle as people. You need balance. If you lean too far to one side, you'll fall off,” she says. Fixing bicycles for farmworkers 12