January 2019 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Announcing the Passing of Darren Knox
by Josh Bisker 23 Jan '19

23 Jan '19

Our beloved friend Darren Knox passed away this weekend, finding peace after a long and painful battle against cancer. He was a deeply gentle, loving person with a generous spirit and a beautiful heart. His final conversation was with a childhood friend, to whom he said "I love this world," and "people are beautiful." He was 33. Darren died at his home in New Orleans surrounded by a close circle of loving friends and his parents. He had been fighting with the cancer for a couple years now, but had kept his struggle mostly private. His health declined sharply over the last few months; between spring and fall this year, he lost a huge amount of weight and energy, and his body started slowly failing as his cancer advanced. Although he had planned to come to Bike!Bike! in LA, a city he had once called home, he was no longer up to it when the time came. When we talked on the phone that weekend, he broke down crying, which was very rare for him. He said, "I'm usually so stoical about all of this ... but I just can't take it that I'm never going to make it to another BikeBike." Darren had dedicated his time and love to bike coops in New Orleans, Chicago, and Portland (and I believe other places too), and many of us knew him from Bike!Bike!; his first one was in 2013 in New Orleans (he moved to New Orleans after Bike!Bike! 2013, you know. He just stayed -- how about that?). Darren expressed to me passionately and often that Bike!Bike!, the community bike shop world, and all the people in our tribe have been among the most important parts of his life -- the things that have given him the greatest sense of purpose, belonging, comfort, and happiness. Our labor, our love, our camaraderie, our boldness and zest for life, our politics and commitment to gender equity, our do-it-together "yes we can" sensibility, and, more than anything, the warm, deep, wacky love we show each other as a community ... all these things kept his spirit burning brightly for the world around him, for his entire adult life. *Darren also had hopes for our community*: he strongly desired that we work more mindfully and expressly on confronting white supremacy. He actually led a workshop on this in Columbus in 2014 -- this is actually where I learned to understand the term white supremacy, if you can believe it. When I visited him in New Orleans last month, he told me that this is still his wish: that we work hard, as a community, towards making this struggle central to our movement. I hope his vision guides our futures. And I hope, as well, that in the midst of our sadness, we all feel glad that the movement we've built together so far became one of the most meaningful parts of the beautiful life that has just sailed away from us. There will be a memorial service for Darren in New Orleans on February 9th; you are all welcome. Check the Bike!Bike! Facebook group <https://www.facebook.com/groups/648758205249998/?ref=bookmarks> for details, housing arrangements, and so on. So, let us organize. There's talk afoot about ensuring that future BikeBike conferences work to include workshops on issues like "Moving Beyond Saviorism Towards Solidarity" -- the title of the one Darren facilitated in Columbus -- and other topics related to overcoming white supremacy. There's also been ideas floated about a monetary collection, possibly to fund an organization that Darren was passionate about, or to bring anti-racism teachings and actions into our own organizations. Please contribute your ideas in this thread and we'll see where we go. Please also feel free to contribute your memories and photos of Darren here. If you wish, we'll do what we can to convey these down to New Orleans on the 9th. "I Love This World" and "People Are Beautiful" are nice last words. Please carry them with you today. Josh Josh Bisker 914-500-9890 New York Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op <http://bikecoop.nyc/> 596 Acres <http://596acres.org/> Bindlestiff Family Cirkus <http://bindlestiff.org/>

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National Bike Summit
by Sylvie Baele 20 Jan '19

20 Jan '19

Hi folks, Is anyone going to the summit? Looking to split a room at the hotel. about $330/each. Sylvie

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Bike share / Dockless systems info
by Jim D. Mayerstein 18 Jan '19

18 Jan '19

Hi all! This is a little off-topic from bike collectives stuff but still in the bike spectrum of things, so here's what's up: Mexico City just installed the first technical board for bike share and dockless transportation systems infrastructure and operations management and I'm super stoked to be part of it. Right now we're trying to gather information from other systems around the world on what their regulations are specifically with the dockless bikes and scooters operators. Some of the questions we're trying to find answers for are: - What are the requirements for companies that offer these services to operate in your city? - Do companies have to pay some sort of right to operate in the city? If so, how much is it and how often do you do contract renewal? - Which are the penalties for companies who don't stick to the rules? - Do companies have to install infrastructure for their bikes? Given they are dockless, some sort of designated spaces or areas? - Do companies have to contribute to the bike infrastructure maintenance? If you or anyone you know have some info or is willing to chat at some point, let me know! Thanks everyone! Much love, -Jim Mayerstein

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Photos from Bike!Bike! 2015 Guadalajara
by Laura Borealis 16 Jan '19

16 Jan '19

Hey yall - I hate that I'm so late on this, but I figured it was about time. Here I present to you my photos from Bike!Bike! 2015 in Guadalajara plus the post ride to Tequila! <https://www.flickr.com/photos/lauraeliza/albums/72157659489974198> I spent a lot of sweet moments with our beloved Darren during this time, when our motto of the trip was "dormir es morir" (to sleep is to die!), 'cause we were just having a blast soaking up every single moment of being there with all of you! Thank you all for the love and support. 💕 Laura

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Public repair stations
by Tigre Bici 13 Jan '19

13 Jan '19

Hello! This email is to ask if any of your shops/collectives/cities have public repair stations and if so, what have been the experiences with them (good usages/theft/general opinions). Has anybody made their own repair station? advice? We have and extra tool kit that nobody is using so we are thinking on making one station and putting it outside the shop for general usage. We are a bit concerned about theft since the area gets really dark and lonely at night with some theft to houses and cars; so we are thinking on something that its fixated to the floor but tools are just available during daytime (to prevent theft) We found some info online on measures (attached), what do you think of this type of station? Abrazos R.

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