In August 2017 Al Numeira received 28 used bicycles from BARAKA. With these bicycles Al Numeira has started a bicycle tourism program that can generate income for the NGO and for the local community. The bicycles are also used by volunteers to get to and from the site the reason behind clean transportation.
2nd bicycle tour
On Tuesday 7th of November, Al Numeira received 4 visitors from Czech Republic. They were interested into a bicycle tour to discover the surroundings of Al Numeira. Salem, the bicycle teacher, William, the founder, Abdullah and Élisa, 2 volunteers went along the trip. It was a great experience for all travelers as for the volunteers, in order to see the points to improve.
The trip was interesting as it enabled the tourists to see the “real Jordan”, that is to say discover a Jordan cemetery, meet a self-sufficient family: a farm operated by 3 women and have a tea with them. Cross the local housings biking and racing with local children…
This experience has been appreciated by the tourists which supports us in the idea of developing this service.
We have noted some points to improve:
check the bikes before offering them to tourists (one of the bikes had a problem thus the entire group had to wait 15 minutes)
Avoid crossing by the fields in order to avoid flat tires or clean up the trail .
Add some signs along the way so that tourists can do the tour by themselves
Plan visits of the fish farms according to the opening time
Highlights of the tour:
Meeting local people
Visiting an organic farm
No gas emission
Tail and trail about coulter and local environmental issues .
Trail improvements
During the tour it was noted that the trail required improvements to make it safer and more bicycle friendly.
The trail was surveyed again after the tour and the following points were noted for improval:
Create an alternative route at the beginning so that the trail doesn’t go along the highway
Remove rocks and plants along the trail
Create signs so the tour can be done without a guide and attach the signs properly so they don’t fall or turn
Improvements done:
Alternative beginning has been created with sand
The trail has been cleared
Signs are still to be made
Bicycle storage improvements
The bicycles are stored in a shipping container from where the bicycle tour starts. Improvements were made to the bicycle storage facility after the first tour.
Problems with the existing bicycle storage:
The container was unorganized and most bicycles were on the floor with only a couple bicycles hanging on the existing storage rack
Hooks on the bicycle rack were too close to each other and the bicycles were hitting each other
The bicycle rack was too high
All bicycles were not easily visible for inspection
Design requirements for new storage system:
Bicycles should be visible so they can be easily inspected and counted
The bicycle rack should be attached to the container in a way that it makes no changes to the actual container (i.e. no drilling or welding directly into the container wall)
The bicycle rack should be removable
The bicycle storage should be user-friendly
As much recycled materials as possible should be used
Improving time management and maintenance cost .
It was decided to build the bicycle rack using recycled pallets. The result was a continuous wooden structure out of pallets, attached to the container wall using hooks and metal tube. The main steps were:
Some boards were removed from the pallets
The pallets were attached together vertically (2.5 pallets together) to create wall-high rows of pallets
The vertical rows were attached to the container wall using using hooks existing at the top and bottom of the container. Steel rods were attached to these hooks, the wood was drilled or cut to make space for the rods, and the rods were used to tie the pallets onto the wall using vertical steel tubes on the outer surface of the pallets.
The boards that had been removed from the pallets in stage 1 were used to attach the vertical rows of pallets to each other horizontally in order to create a continuous wall of pallets
Steel bicycle hooks were then attached to the pallets, and the hooks were angled so that it would be possible to fit two bikes vertically.
The bikes were hang from the hooks horizontally, with one pedal attached to the hook and with the wheels resting on the pallet structure for support.
The storage rack has space for 24 bicycles. Space was left at the entrance of the container for a small office with workshop space for repairing bicycles.
Benefits of the design:
Reuse of old pallets
No permanent changes made to the container
Bikes are easily visible so it is easy to see if there are bikes missing or if bikes need repair
Bikes take less space than before
Al Numeira Environmental Association 