Panhandle Pedalers Cycling Club Vice President Rob McDonald, right, helps his wife Marianne pack up bicycle gear for donation to World Bike Relief at the Second Annual Bicycle Swap Meet on the Shepherdstown Public Library patio last Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Saturday morning, community members brought their unused bicycles, bicycling gear and bicycling apparel to the Shepherdstown Public Library patio, for the Panhandle Pedalers Cycling Club’s Second Annual Bicycle Swap Meet.

Panhandle Pedalers Cycling Club (PPCC) is based out of Shepherdstown, though it has members throughout the region who join in the group’s weekly rides for all riding levels and special activities, such as the bike swap and a Route 9 bike path underpass cleanup on Sunday.

“The purpose of the bike swap is to clean out that basement, in case you’ve got things that you’re not using anymore and that other people can use,” said PPCC member Marianne McDonald, who was also the organizer for the Route 9 bike path underpass cleanup.

“We also hope that this event will allow us to meet new people and share information about the club with them.”

Items remaining at the end of the event were donated to Bikes For the World, according to Marianne.

Community members chat with members of the Panhandle Pedalers Cycling Club at the Second Annual Bicycle Swap Meet on the Shepherdstown Public Library patio on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

“Bikes For the World has a huge building full of bikes near our other house in Rockville. It’s full of bikes that they package up and send to those in need around the world,” Marianne said. “We’ll drop off this stuff there when we drive up there next.”

For Marianne and her husband, PPCC Vice President Rob McDonald, being active in the Shepherdstown-based club has allowed them to develop a community of close friends, after purchasing a vacation home along the Opequon Creek about 10 years ago.

“About all of our friends now are from the bike club,” Marianne said. “It’s a community of friends. It’s very hard to find friends if you don’t go to church, if you don’t have children, that kind of thing that can bring you out to people. This is what brought us out — bicycling with the community!”

That community is about 80-persons strong, according to PPCC President Jonathan Moss, who moved to the area to help care for his son’s newborn son during the COVID-19 Pandemic and joined the club in 2021. Moss noted that his favorite moment from last year’s bike swap, was when a little girl started crying tears of joy, after being giving her own bike. This year, he was most pleased that the bike swap was able to help out a local teacher, who was planning on starting a bike club at her middle school in Martinsburg.

“She started a middle school bike club at the school she teaches art at,” Moss said. “She got a bunch of free stuff here!”

A bike sits on the Shepherdstown Public Library patio, waiting to be swapped on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

Moss organized the bike swap with PPCC Treasurer Jennifer Bean. Bean, who is also a member of the Friends of the Shepherdstown Library, suggested the use of the library patio for the event.

“It’s a nice, central location with a big space,” Bean said. “Plus, hopefully it will draw some people to the library!”

To join PPCC, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/panhandlepedalers.