- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Bicycle Commuter Collective
by Joe A 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

I have an idea for an intentional community/housing collective that I figured would be appropriate to first convey here and elicit what other cyclists think of the idea. It is my impression that there are a great many potential bicycle commuters within our population who do not pursue such a livelihood because they are not adequately supported in the beginning. Therefore, I would like to propose a community that would be known as the Cyclist Nursery or the Bird's Nest that would function as something of a halfway house that would be open to new residents who would like to pursue the goal of becoming a bicycle commuter and encourage them to later make space for new cyclist seedlings after a number of months or as soon as they feel comfortable. There are two main areas that I feel new cyclists need notable support: safety and sustenance. As for safety, there is not much that we can do to change the presence of dangers on the road, but it would be prudent to offer a living example of how to mitigate and minimize them through safe riding practices. This would relate to the service provided by the founders, their proteges and other experienced cyclists to accompany new commuters on their regular route to work or school to familiarize them with the most calm and flat paths, point out things/actions to avoid, and a general feeling of being supported in their endeavor. The other means of support would be the important pursuit of creating sustenance composed only of whole, nutritious foods for every meal. This is not very difficult, but vitally important for the levels of energy and awareness required by regular bicycle commuters. The creation of such meals would be a staple of creative pass-time and mutual support that would help to provide a sense of solidarity among the residents. It would not be a requirement that everyone be equally involved in such shared duties due to varied obligations, but monetary support would be expected in lieu collaborative labor for food expenses and time. So, I would like to hear what the greater bike community thinks of this proposal, any questions that have arisen and also where I might seek additional feedback, guidance, fellow investors.

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Austin Yellow Bike's most recent human-powered Move
by yellow bike 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

Hi, all. I'm forwarding links to a new documentary of Austin Yellow Bike Project's most recent (June 21st, 2008) human-powered move. This time we moved our big 4500 sq.ft. headquarters into storage trailers on the site of what will be our new, improved headquarters<http://www.austinyellowbike.org/webberville_shop.htm>, which we hope to have completed by Spring 2009. If you'd like to help make this happen, please come by our small satellite shop at 1720 East 12th St during open hours <http://www.austinyellowbike.org/schedule.htm>, or if you'd like to donate some cash to the cause, you can do so on our website<http://www.austinyellowbike.org/webberville_shop.htm>. Feel free to forward this message freely to other folks who may be interested. BIG thanks to Shane Greb, from our local PBS affiliate (KLRU) for initiating and producing this piece. OK so the link to the docubloggers site is: http://www.klru.org/docubloggers/?p=367 and just plain old youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GgXSH1jHwI Also, if you haven't seen the video of the first human-powered move, which our friend Megan Rucker made, here it is: http://www.vimeo.com/137808?pg=embed&sec=137808 Thanks for watching! Jennifer Schaffer <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GgXSH1jHwI>

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stuck seat post tip
by Bob Giordano 06 Aug '08

06 Aug '08

a vise is good for stuck seat posts. flip over the bike, insert seat post into vise, tighten -but not too much to crush post-, move bike frame back and forth gently and smoothly while pulling up. be very careful to use smooth motions and 2 or 3 people as to not tweak frame. any other 'stuck seat post' tips? -Bob Giordano, Free Cycles Missoula

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removing self from list
by Food Guy 03 Aug '08

03 Aug '08

Hello, As helpful as this group has been, can you please tell me how I might remove myself from this list? MMoore

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Community Bike Sharing at Bike Bike
by Joe A 03 Aug '08

03 Aug '08

We should start a thread on the possibility of holding a community bike sharing forum at Bike Bike this year. I searched the history of messages and did not find any substantial discussion on the subject. I am part of a new group at City College of San Francisco known as the Green Corps working to integrate the bicycle more completely with the campus. As part of this work, we are holding a class starting this fall known as Alternative Transportation: Bicycles that will give the students an overview of bicycle mechanics, safety and policy and provide them with hands-on experience working in the campus shop known as the Bikery. Given such a well-staffed shop of people, this kind of program seems to have much potential to carefully put together a good number of bikes from donated parts and frames. As such we need to think about how these bikes can be put to use, and it seems natural to loan them out to students who would like to try commuting to school via bike. Hence an accelerated birth rate of bicycle commuters is in order. Thinking along these lines, I attended the recent bike sharing conference here in San Francisco. We heard from many people there about the preexisting options San Francisco has for the implementation of a bike sharing network. We also touched on concern for having diversity within the system as San Francisco actually realistically only has one primarily-city-funded option with the obligation to give the owner of the City's transit shelters, Clear Channel, the first right to refusal of a contract. It was specifically noted that most of these suggested preexisting systems, specifically exemplified by some major cities in Europe, are fleets composed of a monoculture of cruiser-type bikes. This would limit their use to the flat lands such as the Mission and Market corridors. Their limitations would also necessitate the wide-spread use of automobiles for the regular replenishment of bikes taken on one-way trips down from higher ground. In addition, a limited term-of-service duration and the impossibility of long-term loaning would not reach the widest possible population. It would be a shame to not consider alternatives now and end up feeling stuck with a dominant system of monocultured bicycles. The time is ripe to move with a purpose of preempting market dominance and that is where consideration of a long-overdue community bike sharing network comes into play. There are undoubtedly a lot of obstacles to overcome, especially the disabling reality of theft and liability and also consideration of location. Liability is perhaps the tallest hurdle to leap, especially in this notoriously litigious state of California. On this matter we have consulted Bill Burton of Arcata Library Bikes, the largest bike sharing network in the country, who has been at the forefront of setting a precedent for the viability of insuring bicycle sharing. And there is word of a possibility of support from his organization for the development of such a system. Visit his website here (http://arcata.com/greenbikes/) and of particular interest is his book Anybody's Library Bike, which is a guide for setting up such a community bike sharing system. There is also the question of where such bike sharing stations can be maintained and the Green Corps hopes to have City College help lead the way. The Green Corps has ensured space for the Bike Bike conference at CCSF's downtown campus and as such would like to seek and provide enthusiastic support for the development of such important community-supported infrastructure. Let us get inspired to meet and discuss where we've been, what we've learned as well as the possibilities and challenges ahead. Joe Abrams a proud member of the CCSF Green Corps

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Tools for starters
by Ariel raymon 02 Aug '08

02 Aug '08

Hey everyone, Ariel from bikefarm here. We're starting to make our space into a shop, and are looking at the tools we need to purchase. Suggestions on bare minimum tools for a funcitoning shop would be really helpful, as we'll be making a large order from the UBI distributors in a month or so. Also, Are there grants for things like this? Thanks, Ariel

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bike-powered farm equipment
by freeridemp＠riseup.net 27 Jul '08

27 Jul '08

hey gorgeous bike advocates and enthusiasts, a friend and i were kicking around ideas for bike-powered farm machinery yesterday. any resources y'all can send my way would be much appreciated. of course i'll share any promising results. all the best, colin gunn freeride montpelier www.freeridemontpelier.org

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Advice on teaching URBAN RIDING to WOMEN?
by Claire Stoscheck 25 Jul '08

25 Jul '08

Hello thinktankers! I´m right now in Quito, Ecuador with a cool project called Todas en Bici which is promoting biking as transportation for women in the city. We are holding workshops teaching adult women to bike... and we have a group now that already has balance and can basically bike. What we need are tips on how to teach more advanced techniques like breaking, turns, shifting, hand signals, and other tecniques to sucessfully bike in the city. If you have any ideas or know of any already made manuals or the sort, please let me know! Also, please submit to the next issue of the feminist bike zine DAMES ON FRAMES based out of Minneapolis, MN! Articles, stories, photos, drawings, whatever...it all goes! About GENDER, EQUALITY, ACESSIBILITY AND BIKES. Send your submissions (by August 7) to: damesonframes(a)gmail.com THANKS! Claire Stoscheck On 7/21/08, rachael spiewak <rachael(a)sopobikes.org> wrote: > > hi, everyone. > > just wanted to pass along a guide to basic repairs illustrated by one of > our volunteers (it also includes a few pages about bike anatomy from the > BICAS manual): > http://sopobikes.org/static/basicsmanual.pdf > > enjoy! > > rachael > > -- > Sopo Bicycle Cooperative > 404-425-9989 > www.sopobikes.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Hours of operation: > Tues, Wed, & Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm > Sat & Sun 2 pm - 6 pm > > _______________________________________________ > Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > >

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new co-op
by Angelo Coletta 23 Jul '08

23 Jul '08

Hello Our organizational meeting was held 8 July. Filing for non-profit corporation is in process with the State of Ohio. Our name is now "Summit Cycling Center" contact address is Attn Angelo L. Coletta 45 Catherdal Lane #602 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44223 Please place us on the list. Angelo

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Re: [TheThinkTank] collectives in DC?
by Jessica McPherson 23 Jul '08

23 Jul '08

Chain Reaction did shut down. The larger project it was a part of, the Shaw Ecovillage, lost funding or something like that and closed its doors. Jessica ----- Original Message ---- From: Sandy Robson <sandyrobson(a)gmail.com> To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 1:26:36 PM Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] collectives in DC? There's one in Mt Ranier just outside the DC line and then there's the Velocipede Bike Project in downtown Baltimore. I've heard that Chain Reaction was shut down? Is this true? On 7/22/08, Froilan Landeros <froilanderos(a)gmail.com> wrote: aren't there a couple in Baltimore? On Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 11:50 AM, Ann Altstatt <annaltstatt(a)gmail.com> wrote: i don't know think that they are a coop or collective, but the only community bike project i've heard of so far in DC is Chain Reaction Youth Bike Shop 1416 North Capitol Street, NW Washington DC 20002 202.265.2019 On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 10:58 AM, ReCycles Bike CoOp <lrbikecoop(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I have had a volunteer move out to the Wash DC area and he is wondering > about any bike coops or collectives in that area. Any contacts i could give > him? > > Thanks, > > Danielle > coordinator, reCycles bike CoOp > little rock, arkansas > > _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- froilan landeros _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Macalester College 1600 Grand Ave St Paul, MN 55105 US Cell 410 206 7826 MSN jindabad(a)hotmail.com

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