Bicycle Man Must Move From Fayetteville Workshop

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Moses Mathis is the Bicycle Man. For 15 years, he's repaired donated bikes and given them to kids who need them. Now, some feel, he is being given a rude shove from behind.

Mathis said that he hopes that in some small way, the bikes help the kids chase their dreams. But their dreams sometimes intersect with other people's dreams. In this case, that would be a vision named for the man who once said, "I have a dream" -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park is right next Mathis' workshop. A Martin Luther King committee wants to develop the park, and it needs money to do that. The committee has sold the land where Mathis works, meaning the Bicycle Man must take his dream somewhere else.

"I think Martin Luther King would roll over in his grave if he knew that a committee in his name was doing such a thing to this man," said one Fayetteville resident.

While Mathis admitted it's a shock, he said he feels he will rebound and will find another place.

"Things happen, things happen that we have no control over," said Mathis.

A spokesman for the Martin Luther King committee said the group supports the Bicycle Man and will help him find another place to operate his shop. Mathis has three to four months before he must move.