For the month of February, Bend Lifestyle celebrates “Local Love.” A small, local woman-owned business, Love Bike of Bend, embodies this theme with a mission of “spreading love in the streets.”
With a goal to provide bike rides to everyone, regardless of age or mobility, owner Courtney Van Fossan founded Love Bike in 2018 with the purchase of a unique cargo bike made by Triobike in Denmark.
Although many people might consider biking through the streets of Bend to be a summer or warm weather activity, Van Fossan wants to normalize off season rides. “I love fall and winter, it’s beautiful, quieter in town. The summer can be hot, so cooler weather can be ideal.” As a tricycle style bike, the Love Bike is super stable and handles well in winter riding conditions and comes complete with a cozy, custom-fitting lap blanket.
“People are doing this in different ways, mostly outside this country, mostly in Europe. There’s this global group called “Cycling without Age” that uses bikes specifically for older people, to get them outside and cycling,” Van Fossan explains. “So, I actually started out thinking of forming a prospective local chapter of this group.” Ultimately Van Fossan decided that she wanted all the funds to be used locally.
With an almost lifelong passion for cycling, Van Fossan is a self-proclaimed transportation geek with an undergraduate degree in social work. She is also an artist and musician. Her love of community, compassion for people and passion for cycling, along with her work experience, skills and gifts, makes the vision and mission of Love Bike come to life.
Van Fossan worked previously as a sales manager for Bend Electric Bikes. She also worked as a bike tour guide. From the L.A. area, Van Fossan moved to Bend over 10 years ago to find a better place to bike and a place where her kids could spend more time outdoors. “Before I had kids, I started biking around as an alternative to driving. When I had kids, I didn’t want them to grow up in cars, so they grew up on bikes,” Van Fossan reflects. “Love Bike just feels like a bit of an evolution of that.”
Love Bike is built to hold three adults. “This is a high end European-made bike that is purpose built,” explains Van Fossan. Passengers ride up front in the cargo area and the bike itself has a little electric assist to compensate for the weight being carried, ensuring Van Fossan does not overexert herself as she takes people on adventures.
When it comes to providing a Love Bike experience, Van Fossan notes, “The caretaker part of me is really good at hosting someone on this bike, making them feel comfortable and at ease. It brings me joy, to give people a really enjoyable experience they don’t have every day.”
An area of passion and interest for Van Fossan is working with hospice to provide rides for those near end of life. She also enjoys working with older folks and, a few years ago, she invited residents from Mt. Bachelor Memory Care in Bend to a winter festival at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain. “I took the Love Bike out on the ice and gave rides to people who otherwise would not be able to participate, creating this immersive event for them.” And, although Love Bike is very easy for most people to get into, Van Fossan hopes to add a wheelchair bike to her fleet soon.
A Love Bike ride is customizable. Whether a ride to a summer concert in the Old Mill for someone on crutches, to a date night with stops along the way for refreshments, to a ride for older folks who can no longer pedal themselves, Van Fossan aims to make each Love Bike ride exactly what someone wants or needs.
“The whole purpose of Love Bike is to spread love in the streets, it’s a tool we can use to do that,” states Van Fossan. “We all need it. There’s just not enough of this in the world today and it makes a bigger difference than we realize.”
Love Bike
To schedule a ride, contact Courtney Van Fossan: 541.610.3640.
· $100 per hour; 30 min. minimum.
· Typical rides are ½ hour to 1.5 hours; 1.5-hour ride for two people is $150.
· Customizable rides in such areas as: Old Mill, downtown Bend and more.
· Free rides for those in need. Donate online to the “Love Endowment.”
· Gift certificates available.
LoveBikeBend.com
“The caretaker part of me is really good at hosting someone on this bike, making them feel comfortable and at ease... it brings me joy...”
—Courtney Van Fossan, Owner and Operator of Love Bike
“The whole purpose of Love Bike is to spread love in the streets… There’s just not enough of this in the world today and it makes a bigger difference than we realize.”
—Courtney Van Fossan, Love Bike Owner & Operator
