|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
article about local Denver guy/modified bike
this article is from last year but it i just thought of it while
writing my post below about storage i see him now and then around my area and he's never afraid to take the lane! fun to people watch non racing or commuter types on bikes, (like me). he's a favorite, as is the eldery lady who's a regular at the Capitol Hill King Soopers (grocery store) with her yellow bike and newspaper style grocery baskets. check out the pics of his modified "Hummer 00" http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-...news/news.html ---------------------------------------------------- Carlton Wayne Stewart has never played the stock market, but he watches it every day. So he can tell you that, at the moment, the market value of a pound of aluminum is roughly 46 cents, or $1,000 a ton, making it the most valuable of all reclaimable scrap metals. Stewart knows this because reclaiming things is his life. Every day, he rides his bike from Capitol Hill to an industrial cranny beneath West Colfax Avenue, lugging pounds and pounds of aluminum refuse. He finds the cans in dumpsters, alleyways and recycling bins, then converts them to cash at metal-reclamation houses like All City Recycle, where he is a regular. But unlike many of the men and women who flock to this neighborhood every day, toting shopping carts and garbage bags, Stewart considers himself an entrepreneur. "The way I see it, the can people are cleaning up the nation," he says. "If we don't recycle, we're going to lose everything. So why not get organized, start an independent operation, and feel some of the benefits of doing this good work?" Stewart is the founder and president of Colorado Recycles Pick Up, a can-collection operation headquartered along Colfax in Capitol Hill, where he also makes his residence. His primary domicile is a blue sleeping bag, and his transportation is an elaborately rigged bicycle he calls the Hummer 00. Invented twenty years ago, the Hummer 00 is Stewart's first real stroke of genius as a businessman. His current model is an all-weather cruiser fitted with five feet of steel pipe that lug a loading dolly and a gigantic plastic receptacle that can hold 300 pounds of aluminum. That's $138 worth, at current market values. "My goal at one time was to become a millionaire," he says. "And I also wanted to be the president. But people said, 'You can't run for president!' I like to believe that I can do anything, so I haven't ruled that one out. But for now my goal is to make between $50 and $100 a day. And that isn't such a bad living. I must be doing okay, because everybody I know is always asking me for money. I got to stop giving it to them, too." From behind the Hummer 00's handlebars, Stewart has perfected the art of the pick. He knows what kinds of dumpsters yield the greatest rewards, how to time his pickups so that he reaches a trash bin before sanitation workers do, and how to fend off trouble. Stewart is friendly with most Colfax regulars, who call him EZ Money and Can Man, but the street brings its own brand of chaos, no matter how well acquainted one becomes with it. That's why, in addition to food, water and wine, Stewart's backpack contains a pair of pliers, screwdrivers and an actual ax -- tools of the trade, Stewart says, but also handy in an emergency. "I'm not a violent person, but these streets can do things to you, and I've got enough stuff to start a war," he says, turning to reveal a large purple welt above his left eye, a gift from a disgruntled former employee. "The minute you leave your house, or wherever you are, there's all kinds of **** going on, and you got to be ready for the world. That's why I don't read the news. I say, 'Step outside. That's news, happening all around you.'" Stewart is 38, with short dreads and a muscle-ripped body that's been earned one wheel rotation at a time. Several times a week, he rides through Cherry Creek and into Englewood, logging nearly a hundred miles on a good day. Capitol Hill is a hot spot, largely because the city's Denver Recycles program is available only to single-family residences and apartment buildings with seven units or fewer; businesses owners and property managers often leave bags out for Stewart to collect. The five-block area from Williams to York streets, with its plethora of dive bars, diners and convenience stores, is especially lucrative. "People in Cherry Creek will give you a nice donation," Stewart says. "I once had an old dude give me $65 just for picking up some trash. Here on the Hill, you're more likely to get a dollar. But it's all about who you know, and how you know it, and people from all over here be showing you where to find the best stuff." Stewart once had seventeen Hummer-type bikes in the Colorado Recycles fleet. Today that's down to four, with a rotation of six to eight drivers who man them every day of the week. Most of the riders are, like Stewart, homeless, and many have mental and substance-abuse problems. Stewart usually recruits potential employees in bars, on the street or inside Ready Man Labor on Colfax and Race (which, incidentally, has one of the hottest dumpsters along the strip). Turnover, not surprisingly, has been a problem, though Stewart does have a couple of longstanding employees. Josepheus Verilla has been working with Colorado Recycles for fifteen years, on and off. "Some people might see him and me as bums or whatever, but we get to go where we want to go, and we can make more money than the rest of the people in the world make in all the regular ways," says Verilla. "I told him early, 'I'll pull my weight. I'll stick with you.' And I have. Because he's just a good leader. If you follow your leaders, you might learn something." Stewart's been a self-professed scavenger for most of his life. He got into recycling as a kid, collecting glass at age nine in his home town of Houston. At twelve, after his mom moved the family to Denver, he hauled loads of pop cans and bottles to Safeway in a wagon-like device he built himself. ("When we first talked about moving to Colorado, I thought I was going to have to ski to school because of all the snow," he says.) After a year at Morey Elementary, Stewart left school to help support his four brothers and sisters. By the time he was fifteen, he was living on the streets. "I dropped out of school and then some," he says. "I thought, 'People are looking at you. You're a grown man now.' I knew I needed to make some money, and I knew that if I didn't step up and do a job, I wasn't going to do anything. So I just decided to start my company." Stewart rarely takes a day off. When he does, he likes to feed the ducks in City Park or people-watch on the 16th Street Mall. He's hoping to get enough money together to help fund a shelter for the working homeless, but his real dream is even bigger: He'd like to one day build an outdoor skating rink for the city. Befitting a wheelman, his hobby is roller-skating. "My life is a pretty heavy trip, but I just try to get out and enjoy every day," he says. "I'm just trying to do what that man said. I'm trying to roll with it." westword.com | originally published: April 29, 2004 |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
In article . com,
"james" writes: this article is from last year but it i just thought of it while writing my post below about storage .... Nice article, but I don't think I'd ever refer to a bike I liked as a "hummer" ;-) cheers, Tom -- -- Nothing is safe from me. Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
james wrote:
this article is from last year but it i just thought of it while writing my post below about storage i see him now and then around my area and he's never afraid to take the lane! fun to people watch non racing or commuter types on bikes, (like me). he's a favorite, as is the eldery lady who's a regular at the Capitol Hill King Soopers (grocery store) with her yellow bike and newspaper style grocery baskets. check out the pics of his modified "Hummer 00" http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-...news/news.html ---------------------------------------------------- Typical mainstream profile of the utilitarian cyclist. I'm sure a lot of people were impressed with the lifestyle. What a load o'patronizing crap. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
buying my first road bike | Tanya Quinn | General | 28 | June 17th 10 10:42 AM |
Autofaq now on faster server | Simon Brooke | UK | 216 | April 1st 05 10:09 AM |
aus.bicycle FAQ (Monthly(ish) Posting) | kingsley | Australia | 3 | February 24th 04 08:44 PM |
my new bike | Marian Rosenberg | General | 5 | October 19th 03 03:00 PM |
FAQ | Just zis Guy, you know? | UK | 27 | September 5th 03 10:58 PM |