6 great jobs for bicycle lovers

May is National Bike Month, and this year’s National Bike to Work Week is May 11-15. Biking is a great way to get to and from work, but if that’s not enough bike time for you, there are plenty of jobs out there that pay you to work with bikes. Here are six great jobs for bicycle lovers.

Bike courier

Bicycle couriers, sometimes known as bicycle messengers, deliver sensitive documents, small packages and sometimes food to clients. “Being a bicycle courier is a great job for someone who loves bikes,” says Gary Moss, owner of Bike Force, a bicycle courier company. “You get to ride a bicycle for most of your shift, it is fast paced and there is a lot of variety since you deliver to several different locations each day.”

People who work as bike couriers may need to supply their own bicycles and keep them in working condition. Some bike courier jobs are contract positions, but there are also opportunities to be an employee.

Bike shop employee

Joy Boone is the founder and owner of the Houston Bicycle Museum and has owned Daniel Boone Cycles, a high-end bike shop, for many years. She says she loves meeting and helping a wide variety of people with their bikes. She also enjoys the satisfaction that comes from knowing her ability to juggle the demands of each aspect of the business’s operations has been successful as well.

Bike mechanic

Bike mechanics work in bike shops or may have their own shops to help people fix and maintain their bicycles. Common skills needed to get started include the ability to true wheels, adjust brakes and derailleurs, and change flat tires, Boone says. Once you have your foot in the door, it’s important to keep learning about bicycles — there is a deep history and the technology continues to evolve. Boone says niche knowledge helps as well; knowing about a specific cycling discipline or era — road or mountain biking, for example, or vintage bikes — is a plus.

Bike sales rep

A sales representative working for bicycle manufacturers would need to have a thorough knowledge of the product and an outgoing personality, Boone says. They would work with a variety of retailers who may have different needs for stocking bicycles, and there may be some travel involved, too.

Bike nonprofit employee

Gearin’ Up Bicycles is a nonprofit organization that teaches volunteers and young people how to work on used bikes, which are then sold. It’s rewarding to work with a wide variety of people, all of whom enjoy bicycles, says Sterling Stone, the organization’s director of programs and operations. “A lot of bike shops are looking for a mechanic this time of year, and we give the guy off the street some experience.”

Bike billboard rider

Richard Pawlowski, co-founder of Biking Billboards, says riders who work for his company sometimes work on-call, but describes it as a fun seasonal job. Riders tow billboards that advertise for businesses as well as political campaigns. Pawlowski now works on the consulting side of bicycle advertising, and helps ad agencies find bike billboard contractors.

“Our riders have to be cheerful, professional and have the clients advertising best interests at heart,” he says. “People love to ride bikes and get paid for it.”