Biking is new-found passion

By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer
    
The first thing Bronwyn Potthoff had to do before starting at Community Bicycle Center was re-learn how to ride a bike.
Two years later, she hops on her bicycle to commute to work, raise money for charity and lead rides that wind for miles along the back roads of York County.
Potthoff, resource development and community relations director for Community Bicycle Center, started at the Biddeford organization in August 2009. The center operates a drop-in workshop and offers other programs for middle school students that aim to develop skills and good behavior.
Potthoff grew up in Portland and now lives in downtown Biddeford. She attended the University of Vermont and National Outdoor Leadership School in Patagonia and after she wanted to come back to New England to work for a small, community-based nonprofit.
Enter the Community Bicycle Center.
Potthoff began the first of two AmeriCorps VISTA contracts at the center in 2009. She was hired after the second contract ended this summer. Before she could get to work two years ago, she needed to get back on a bike.
Potthoff previously had little interest in cycling and preferred to walk and stay active in other ways. She said she quickly fell in love with cycling.
“I bike everyday to work. I fell into the bike culture and I really like it,” she said.
When she heads out on group rides, Potthoff often hops onto a tandem bicycle with one of the children from the center.
“It’s a lot of fun. I prefer it over a single bike,” she said. “There’s banter back and forth. It helps to get to know the kids who come in here to ride on a tandem with them.”
Potthoff has also bonded with participants during the Trek Across Maine, a three-day, 180-mile ride to raise money for American Lung Association. The Community Bicycle Center team each year raises thousands of dollars for the organization. She said riding the Trek with young team members is fun.
“There’s a lot of energy around cycling and being healthy in general. Everybody has a really good attitude,” she said. “It’s a huge community event and a huge social event.”
For Potthoff, getting to know the children at the center is just as much fun as exploring Maine by bicycle.
“You develop friendships with the kids,” she said. “We’re not an authority figure, so we can work as a mentor while still being their friend.”
Potthoff said the children have taught her how to be patient, creative and multi-task.
“They’ve also taught me to look at things in different ways. They’ve definitely shown me there’s always another piece to the puzzle,” she said. “And they show me how to laugh at things. We have a lot of goofy kids.”
In addition to leading regular girls’ group rides, Potthoff fills in as a leader on other rides and works regularly with children who stop in the workshop. Another important part of her job is resource development, which includes grant writing, overseeing fundraising activities, writing press releases and handling other external communication.
The job is perfect, Potthoff said, because it allows her to work both with children and help with running a nonprofit she sees as important to the community. The program provides a healthy and structured activity to children who might otherwise not have someplace safe to hang out. It also gives children an opportunity to meet positive role models and learn new skills, she said.
“There’s a huge need for this type of program,” she said.
Potthoff said one of the benefits of working at a nonprofit is being able to meet “really good people” in the community. Chief among them for Potthoff is Andy Greif, executive director of the bicycle center.
“I’m very, very lucky to work with and for a really visionary leader and boss. He definitely sees the potential and he’s effective with making things happen,” she said. “I think this is an incredible program. It’s bigger than just us.”