On Two Wheels: Bikes, Belonging, and the Future of Hudson’s Mobility

Arone Dyer on what biking can teach us about community, confidence, and care

As a kid growing up in Hudson, my bike was my ticket to freedom. When I think back on my childhood, a handful of places come immediately to mind: Oakdale Lake, Cedar Park Cemetery, my cousins’ house on Parkwood Boulevard, the track at M.C. Smith, the Firemen’s Home Museum. These were the landmarks of my summers, the places where I spent more time than I did at home. Usually without any grown-ups around. Always feeling like I could take on anything. And all of these places had one thing in common: I got there on my bike.

You might think that all those hours pedaling around town would mean I’d remember every detail of my bike – the make, the color, the feel of the handlebars in my palms. But I can’t recall a single specific thing about any of them. My bikes were usually hand-me-downs: too small or too big, rust eating away at the frames, a chain that slipped when I pushed up the hill from Oakdale. I vaguely remember my friends and me piling our bikes in the cemetery, handlebars and spokes tangled together, never a bike lock in sight. Our bikes weren’t precious, but they were essential. We added pegs so we could carry each other along. We learned how to slip the chain back on ourselves. We traded bikes back and forth without thinking much of it. More than once, I ended up at home with one that wasn’t mine, only to swap back later in the week.

When I look back now, I feel a wave of nostalgia. When I first moved back to Hudson in 2018, I hardly ever saw a kid on a bicycle, at least not riding quite the way that we did. I saw children pedaling alone while their parents jogged behind them, kids’ bikes that might have cost hundreds of dollars locked neatly in their own yards each night. Mostly, though, I saw fewer bikes overall.

But in the last few years, I’ve noticed a hopeful uptick in bicycle use. I see kids riding them throughout the city, especially down on Front Street, kids riding together to get around. In the 5th ward, a small “bike bus” has started to take shape; a few families biking to school together every morning. Those same parents have been pressing the city for safer streets, resulting in the first simple bike lane lines painted on Paddock Place, the road leading up to M.C. Smith. It’s been heartening to see.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t attribute this change, at least in part, to Arone Dyer. For the last five years, Arone has been the Lead Mechanic at the Bike Co-op, a seasonal workshop tucked into a small garage at Oakdale Park. The shop was built by volunteers and feels a little like a clubhouse: the walls lined with tools, the floor always dotted with bikes in every state of repair.

Arone evaluating a bike alongside a teen.

The Co-op launched in 2020, just as the world felt like it was tipping sideways. It didn’t take long to catch on. Local tweens and teens started showing up almost immediately, drawn by the promise of learning how to fix a bike. And maybe, more importantly, a place to hang out where they felt welcome.

In 2021, the program expanded into a daily part of the Hudson Youth Department’s summer camp. Even kids who weren’t enrolled in camp could drop in once a week to work on bikes. By last year, thanks to support from foundations and local donors, the Co-op was open five afternoons a week all summer, offering more flexibility for teens who had other programs or summer jobs.

Since 2021, over 80 young people have completed the Co-op’s Earn-A-Bike program. The idea is simple and powerful: youth work alongside skilled mechanics to fully break down and rebuild a donated bike. When it’s done, they ride it home as their own. The process isn’t quick. It can take hours of patient learning: figuring out which tool does what, how to read the sounds a bike makes, how to tell if something is safe to ride. But it’s transformative.

During Free Ride periods, younger campers who aren’t quite ready for repair work can borrow a bike and helmet and ride around the skate park ramps. Last summer alone, 14 kids learned to ride for the very first time, coached by Arone and cheered on by their friends.

The program is many things at once: a recreation space, a workforce training ground, a hub for community connection. In a place with few public transportation options, a bike is a chance for kids to get to a job, visit a friend, or just feel the simple thrill of moving from their own power.

I first became aware of Arone’s work when my daughter, Poppy, came home from Oakdale Camp as a six-year-old who could suddenly ride her bike without training wheels – and do a few tricks too. She built an easy confidence that stirred something deep in me, watching her pedal through the same places I once did, kicking her feet straight out to the sides. That gift alone – helping my kid feel at home on a bike – was enough to make me grateful for Arone. But after hearing her perspective, my gratitude turned into something closer to reverence. Her philosophy is equal parts intellectual and mischievous, and it’s already changed the way I think about this city.

Two Oakdale kids (mine on the left!) on their bikes on the basketball court.

I asked Arone, who also has a Substack that I adore reading, to share her story – about how she came to this work, what she’s seeing in the shop these days, what bikes might make possible in Hudson. What follows here is entirely in her own words.

For folks who don’t know you, how would you introduce yourself?

Too excitedly. HIIII! I'm Arone Dyer, a professional musician with hard-earned successes and 4 continuing musical projects. I consistently hold supplemental day jobs including-but-not-limited-to Bike Mechanic Educator, Landscaper, Carpenter and Voice Artist. I volunteer on the Hudson Conservation Advisory Council (starting to work on creating a CAC for the Town of Greenport! HMU if you're a Greenport resident and are interested in joining!) and am an active Volunteer Firefighter in the Town of Greenport, working my way through training for Interior Fire Fighting this fall. I love my non-trad life and believe I am here to experience it to the fullest.

Arone and a camper at the co-op.

What drew you to bikes in the first place?

I grew up in a town not much bigger than Hudson in Minnesota, which is MUCH flatter, and I rode my bike EVERYWHERE. As a tyke, my sister and I took our bike and trike to the parking lot across from our house to simply ride around. I wore a silk scarf around my neck like a cape and would watch it fly behind me. Flying! As I grew older, I learned I could avoid getting on the school bus, which I began to dread cuz bullies, if I rode my bike to school. Plus, I could arrive at my own pace and get my energy out before classes. I've taken that attitude with me throughout life, and I've always kept a bike for transportation.

What inspired you to join The Bike Co-op at Oakdale?

Nick Zachos, Ken Reichl, John Bernauer and perhaps others (?) started the Bike Coop, and when I joined, there were so many adults involved we were able to offer group bike rides, which were REALLY fun and I wish I had the capacity to host those again. I met and got to know the kids who came around looking for bike help and a place to hang out where they felt welcomed and could make it their own, and I became incredibly inspired by THEM. They reminded me of when I needed to feel accepted in my town, a place I could count on to be open, a safe place away from my parents, a social and active scene. I'm trying to provide that for kids in Hudson.

When did you first start fixing bikes for other people, and what did that feel like?

I was 21 years old in NYC, biking to a basement accounting job (?!) where I was also tasked as their in-house messenger for important documents, because that was when faxes were still the main way paperwork was transferred. So I was getting fit and meeting other cyclists (at that time there were far fewer riders) who I'd bump into at more frequented businesses like the World Trade Center, or Empire State building. When I needed my bike worked on, I went to the Recycle-A-Bicycle in DUMBO. I convinced them to let me learn from them while I volunteered working there, keeping the shop clean and organized. I learned the basics and enjoyed the work, so I applied for a mechanic position at Bicycle Habitat (on Lafayette at the time), where I was taught the importance of consistent, safe work in a high-volume shop. I kept moving up, gaining more skills and trying out different shops, until I eventually became the manager at a small shop in the Lower East Side, Bike Works, where I feel I earned my masters, from full overhauls to building wheels. I loved learning how to manipulate metal, how to listen to a bike in order to diagnose a problem. And my growing base of customers kept coming back because I did quality work! I loved helping my customers be confident and proud of their ride. So much personality was infused into each bike! Especially the delivery or messenger bikes, beat to hell, which told individualized stories of use and care. Stickers, paint, chains, super-glued gems, exhaust-grayed and rain-soaked stuffed animals hanging from the saddle. When you ride a bike that often, it becomes a part of you.

You’ve taught so many kids to ride – including my own kid, Poppy, who came home from camp riding without training wheels and doing tricks. What’s it like to watch that moment when something clicks for a kid?

So many learners are nervous and hesitant, and each one needs an adjustment in encouragement. So I ask them to think about it as a puzzle. What's the smallest thing you can focus on to get closer to the goal? I turn it into a series of smaller games they can win with a little extra determination. I love watching young ones begin to enjoy problem solving through their own curiosity, and it's such a thrill to see it click! Their eyes wide with pride. Then they pretty much disappear while they hone the skill, reappearing on occasion to display a new trick they learned in the park from other kids. It's the absolute BEST.

What are the biggest barriers you see for kids or adults who want to ride more in Hudson?

Honestly, the only barrier I see is interest. If you don't see it happening, you won't get curious. I wish the Empire State Trail went along Warren Street to 6th, past Oakdale, through the little nature area that dumps out by the elementary school. I also wish Fairview was more bike-friendly, with an off-road path or solid barrier separation, trees, street cleaning, nice pavement, etc. But Fairview is a State Highway (9), which many people don't think about, so I think people blame local governments for neglecting it, leaving it as a dangerous place to ride or walk out of lack of care, which is simply not the case. If you're interested in helping alert New York State to the dangers of Fairview, come to the Greenport Town Board meetings (every first Wednesday, 6pm, at the Town Hall on Town Hall Rd off Healy Blvd) and voice your thoughts! Visibility builds interest. Start riding your bike around more often than you drive and we'll begin to see a shift in how Hudson/Greenport residents view cycling!

Who comes to you for help with bikes? Are there patterns in who has access to bikes and who doesn’t?

Most often it's teen boys looking for independence, as well as the occasional teen girl (10:1), often from the housing on Front or in Bliss, but others from closer by. I think word got out really well last year, and the kids who go through the Hudson School system come out regularly. It's definitely class-driven, with kids who lack access to equipment, or attention from family members filling the ranks most often. Occasionally, an adult with more leisure time and educational background comes around asking if we'd fix their bike, which I do my bestest to politely decline. The pattern is that kids with affluent home-lives are given bikes and encouraged to use them for fun (downhill/mountain/off-road biking, or longer distance road cycling), and kids with more stressors at home don't have bikes, or are given bikes in disrepair, but they learn that having a working one will get them around town faster. Less about the fun, more about the independence of it.

An Oakdale camper showing off newfound cycling skills.

Are there particular stories of people getting on bikes — maybe for the first time in decades — that have stayed with you?

When I was working at Bike Works in 2010, a few articles were written about me as a token female bike mechanic. One of these articles prompted a 96-yo woman living on Staten Island to mail me a hand-written letter, asking if I could help her ride a bike again. She was experiencing balance issues but didn't want to be "demoted" to an adult tricycle, could I add training wheels to her folding bike? So I got the make and model of her bike, and designed and built a beefy adult version of training wheels which I could retrofit to her bike. I took a day off of work and rode out to her, ferry and all, with the parts and tools in my messenger bag. She was SO excited to greet me, proudly showing me her family photos and home. She loved that I was a "woman doing man's work", and when I adjusted that thought for my taste, "it's just work!", she loved it, "That's RIGHT!" I got the parts installed and she tooled around her driveway with me as support and guide, so grateful, a little teary-eyed. I came away from her place feeling like I was able to give her a slice of freedom and self-confidence back, and having seen firsthand the power that a bicycle can give to someone who yearns for a little control in their life, when control seems mostly out of reach. She wrote me a gorgeous thank you letter (I think i still have it?!) that made me tear-up.

How do you think bikes change how people feel about where they live?

I think the slower you physically move through life, the more you see and experience. When you ride a bike, you begin to notice how the infrastructure shifts throughout your ride and through the seasons. You feel the relieving shade of trees, or lack thereof. You hear and breathe the exhaust of vehicles that could be more regulated, you notice where people congregate and find patterns to it. I think if more people rode a bicycle, more people would be involved in town planning meetings. They'd be more invested in the structure of the society. You just can't get the picture from the bubble of your car, even if you have the windows open. You'd also begin to notice the wonderful scents of flowers blooming and cool mountain breezes, so you'd smile a lot more, and that would be nice.

If you could wave a magic wrench and change one thing about how Hudson supports bikes and bikers, what would it be?

hahah remove the uphill part of warren st

i kid i kid!

aaahm

i'd make warren street pedestrian and bike-only?

hahahahaha!!!

another joke.

ok realistically tho?

my magic wrench would just make everybody ride a bike despite however they're "supported". jeez, get over yourselves.

Have you noticed more people showing up with ebikes? How do you feel about them as part of the transportation mix here?

Yes!

I have mixed feelings about ebikes, or "digitals". On the one hand, they help people with mobility issues get around in an area where grocery stores are farther away than ideal and there's that whole hill-thing. But on the other hand, they're far more wasteful to create than "analog", or human-powered, bicycles, and will eventually need to be disposed of, plus the charging of cheaper ebikes is causing an epidemic of fires in the city, and that will likely become a more frequent incident here. Many ebikes can be altered to remove the speed limiter, so there's a possibility that they can be faster, and more dangerous, especially if the rider isn't wearing protective gear. I think kids should be encouraged to use their internal energy, but the cat's out of the bag, and tbh ebikes are super fun. At this point I like to emphasize the sustainability of an analog bike and hope that rings louder than the dopamine rush an ebike provides. ANOTHER thought is, hey! at least those on ebikes are OUTSIDE, not in a car. at least they take up less space and are quieter than cars! they're more FUN than cars! whatever. My opinion is clearly swingable, but it depends on which angle I'm looking at it from.

What do you think it would take to make Hudson a true bike-friendly city for everyone?

Again, if "everyone" started riding a bike, Hudson would automatically become more "bike-friendly" because "everyone" would quickly become invested in the collective health, safety and enjoyment of that form of transportation.

After speaking with Arone, I reached out to Mayor Kamal Johnson, who grew up riding these same streets in the 1990s. “All we did was ride our bikes everywhere,” he told me. “One of the most popular spots was the bike path from Harry Howard to Mill Street because of the incredible speed you could pick up going down the hill.”

Today, he says, bikes remain essential in Hudson. “There are so many residents who prefer biking over driving — for commuting, errands, or just getting some fresh air. It’s healthy, affordable, and good for the planet.”

The City, he notes, is investing in safer, more accessible bike routes through the Hudson Connects streetscape redesign, improved sidewalks and crosswalks, and expanded links to regional trails like the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail. “If I could change one thing right now,” he added, “I’d expand the new Front Street bike lanes to the entire city.”

Arone might just hold him to that. She closed our conversation with a challenge:

“I dare Hudson to go BIKE for the remainder of this year. That's right! Through December! If you need parameters, we can keep it within the City of Hudson. You want to go swimming? Ride your bike to Oakdale! Go out to a fancy dinner? Get dressed up and ride there on your BIKE. I'd love to see it and I'll bet my shorts that the City of Hudson would become leagues more bike-friendly within the year. My SHORTS.”

If you’re inspired by the work of the Bike Co-op, there are a few ways to get involved. Donations really help — the program runs on seasonal funding and could always use more support. But what’s just as valuable is showing up: volunteering your time, helping build a consistent, low-pressure, tool-filled space where kids and teens feel safe to tinker, break things, and put them back together. As Arone puts it, what she needs most are “people invested in creating casual, consistent, low-expectation, high-curiosity recycle and fix-forward tinkering spaces.” In other words: come with your hands, your heart, and your hex wrenches.

You can read more from Arone — and I strongly suggest that you do — at aronedyer.substack.com.

And to get in the fold yourself with bikes in Hudson, come on down to the Bike Safety Rodeo with the Hudson Police Department, Berkshire Bike and Board, and the Hudson Bike Bus on July 17th, from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Oakdale. There will be games, prizes, and This and That Food Truck!