In August 2005, Norm Julian, in his regular column in the Dominion Post, wrote about a cyclist he had seen in busy traffic. The cyclist had no fear of auto traffic or the outrageous (at the time) prospect of $3/gallon gas.  This was enough to inspire John Lozier and Nick Hein to act on the idea of a community bike shop.  John Lozier had a background in community activism and was a long-time resident. Nick Hein, a recent arrival, had experience at the Seattle community bikeshop BikeWorks.  Their idea was to start an earn-a-bike program where youth could learn to repair and maintain bikes and earn their own bike in the process.

 A week later, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the mission changed to one of hurricane relief.  Many of the storm refugees had been moved to Camp Dawson with no transportation or family activities.  At the same time, an organization called “Morgantown Cares" had been collecting relief supplies at the Morgantown Armory to meet the needs of displaced residents and storm victims who remained in the Gulf Coast region.  By the time bikes could be gathered for the Camp residents, the Army had moved them out so the collected bikes (200 of them in only a few weeks) were fixed up for shipment directly to the storm-affected regions. Fifty kids' bikes were shipped to a relief center by “Feed the Children” and 85 adult bikes were taken directly to “Plan B” community bike shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans. 

Upon return, there were still bikes coming in, and Grand Central Station had offered free shop space. Positive Spin was officially chartered as a non-profit (501(c)3) corporation with Will Ravenscroft, John Lozier and Nick Hein as founding board members and executives.  In addition to his own qualifications and experience, Will Ravenscroft's brother, Lee, was director of Working Bikes in Chicago and gave much emotional and tangible support during the formation.

 Since its founding Positive Spin has received approximately 1000 bikes/year in donations.  Many of them are repaired to provide affordable transportation for anyone who needs or wants it.  The rest are either shipped around the country, or overseas, where they may better meet local needs for affordable transportation.  Bikes that can't be repaired are stripped for useable parts, the remainder is recycled. 

In the first few years of Positive Spin's existence, our mission has expanded from charity and bike recycling to supporting sustainable transportation of all forms – walking, biking, bus and carpooling – to make Morgantown a nicer place for everyone.  Included in our charter are bike safety/maintenance education, government action and educating all citizens about ways that transportation can change to make the city livable again.