Have you ever caught yourself dreaming of owning a different vehicle to drive for each day of the week? For Dan White, a custodian for Tolman Hall, that dream is a reality. In fact, he could have a different vehicle for 19 days to be exact. Dan White is a Grand Junction native and an avid bike enthusiast.  His passion for bicycles began in grade school, and with 19 bikes and many bike parts in his possession, Dan has become known as “the Bike Guru.”
Over the past decade White estimates that he has built between 30 and 40 bicycles for himself and others.
“I like to find them as discarded items,” he explains. Once a year the city allows people to put all of their unwanted items in the street for it to be disposed of, and as a result many people find unexpected treasures in the gutters. White is no exception. “Once a year, they set stuff out and I go junking for bike parts.” Chances are, if you are in need of a bike part, White has one on hand. “I even go to the Mesa County landfill and get the recycled paints,” added White.
Since gaining his reputation as a bike guru, Dan has come across some unique bicycles ranging anywhere from the early 1970’s mountain bikes to tandem bicycles and with that he is always willing to trade his services for bikes and their parts.
“I like to change them (the bikes) for my own and others’ personal comfort” he says “These are actually Harley Davidson bars,” Dan explained while pointing to the handle bars on his very own orange bicycle he found and restored.
His love for bikes transcends to his friends and family, including his five grandchildren.
“I have helped a lot of people get into bikes who didn’t think they could afford it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 2,000 dollar bike, if you can swing that, great.  If it’s a $2 bike that needs help from a yard sale and you get it fixed up, many of those really come to have meaning to people. They will find this decrepit, old beat up bike. Once they get it fixed up, it really becomes a cool thing,” White said.
If most of us found several bikes left in our yards, we’d probably find it odd. However stray bikes appearing in White’s lawn has become a norm. Friends and neighbors spread the word about White’s handiness with bikes, and once the word is out there’s no putting on the brakes. The discovery of bikes in his yard normally begins with, “Hey that guy fixes bikes. And I go, whose bike is that, but I usually end up fixing it,” explains White.
“Riding is many things. When you don’t have money or you’re bored, you can always go for a bike ride,” he explained. “I don’t keep track of miles, I don’t believe in keeping track of the miles as long as you’re having fun, miles don’t matter,” he said.
“I take a ride every day, some kind of a ride and when weather doesn’t permit, I have an exercise bike that I’ll get on and ride” says White. “I have a car and a scooter but if I can, I try to make a bike trip because we don’t need to drive a car half a mile.”
White has been a long time believer in staying fit and active.
“I view exercise differently. I don’t think of age. I think staying fit to me personally is a moral imperative, you owe it to yourself, and when you’re riding with a bunch of kids, the last thing on your mind is age,” said White as he reached for his wallet and pulled out his I.D. “I’ll let you figure out how old I am.”  Though his age will remain disclosed, one would never guess how many years he has been cruising around. “Growing old is eminent, it is going to happen, but growing up is totally optional to a person” said White.
“Recreation and everything we do is getting more expensive” said White.  Riding, however, can be done at almost no cost once you have a bicycle. White goes on to say that, “It is a proven fact that bicycle riding can increase endorphin levels. More people should try bike riding, six months after starting, people find their physical condition has improved and they didn’t realize what they had been missing out on all this time.”
White’s outlook on life is one to be admired. He loves what he does and shares his love with others. This does not mean that all of us should immediately purchase 19 bikes, instead, we should find our own passion as White has and share it with others.  After spending his entire life building, searching for and riding bikes, one wonders if he will ever grow tired of them. His response:“If I quit breathing.”