RIGHT: Doug tries to stay dry while taking the trash out during a rainstorm on May 2, 2010. Doug receives help with daily chores from Havar, Inc., a local company that assists disabled residents, but he also has a great deal of personal responsibility.
BELOW: Doug pauses on the side of the road in The Plains, OH to allow traffic to pass on Oct. 16, 2007. Havar, Inc. caretakers and friends of Doug prefer that he be home before dusk but when Doug is forced to bike at night, he takes safety seriously. Even during the day, Doug wears a high-visibility construction style vest and has multiple flashing lights attached to his bicycles for biking at night.
BOTTOM LEFT: Doug works on fixing the bottom bracket of a used bicycle on his back patio in Chauncey on Oct. 3, 2007. Doug’s father taught him all about bicycles and how to repair them. “I ride bikes, I fix bikes, because it’s my hobby,” Doug says.
LEFT: Doug straps aluminum cans collected from the Smiling Skull Saloon to his bicycle on Nov. 7, 2009 while bystanders walk by. As an extra means of money to help fund new bicycle parts, Doug collects and recycles cans from local companies. Unfortunately, when out in the community doing such work, Doug encounters unfriendly people. “When I am riding my bike, out in the community collecting cans, some strangers aren’t very polite. Sometimes they threaten the life out of me and I’m not going to allow it,” he says in an upset voice one day after returning home.
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backdrop » winter 2011
backdropmag.com
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