- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

fix a flat teaching materials
by Sarah Follett (B!KE) 09 Apr '10

09 Apr '10

Hello all, Rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd turn to the great collective resource that is the Think Tank. I was wondering if anyone had a fun handout with steps for how to fix a flat. I'm doing some high school visits with tutorials, and I think having a reference on paper is the only way I'm going to be able to manage to teach a class of 20 youth all at once! Thanks in advance! Sarah Follett Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 400 Wolfe St Peterborough, Ontario (705) 748-6681 http://www.communitybikeshop.org

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advanced classes
by Scott Gibson 08 Apr '10

08 Apr '10

Hey is there anyone out there who can offer up anything from basic breakdown to in-depth curriculum about your Advanced Mechanics Classes. We are looking to develop our own at Free Ride! this year. Anything you have would be really helpful. Thanks, Scott

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Wrench Nepal Human-Powered Washing Machine
by Mario Bruzzone 08 Apr '10

08 Apr '10

Hi folks-- I've been meaning to do this for weeks, but I wanted to let everyone on this list know that Aaron Wieler and I wrote up a project report for the hand- and pedal-powered washing machine we helped facilitate in Nepal in 2008. The project was a partnership with the local Nepali NGO Prisoners Assistance Nepal. You can read it here <http://www.wrenchnepal.org/donate2> ( http://www.wrenchnepal.org/donate2) or here <http://bikecart.pedalpeople.com/projects.html>( http://bikecart.pedalpeople.com/projects.html)--it's the same pdf in both places. Wrench Nepal is sadly on hiatus, probably forever, for circumstances outside my control, but both my email and Aaron's are in the pdf. Thanks, Mario Bruzzone San Francisco

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LAB insurance question
by andrew lynn 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

hi all, i have been perusing the archive because we are trying to obtain insurance - both to cover our butts, and because we want/need to get our own J&B account and not mooch off our sister project (which has a parent non-profit) any longer. question: is the LAB club insurance (which i think i understand from other emails) enough to put on a J&B application and get approved? does anyone out there do this (have a J&B accoutn and LAB club insurance?) Andrew Lynn Troy Bike Rescue

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Re: [TheThinkTank] [Bicipandilla] Bike Kitchen's can now be found on other planets.
by james blesdoe 02 Apr '10

02 Apr '10

________________________________ I saw a Bike Kitchen in Caprica City, Caprica when I was watching the 'Gravedancing' episode of the SciFi series Caprica. The employees had blue aprons that said "Bike Kitchen". Ride on, _______________________________________________ Bicipandilla mailing list Bicipandilla(a)bicyclekitchen.com http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/bicipandilla

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Bike!Bike! Northeast Approacheth!
by andrew lynn 01 Apr '10

01 Apr '10

Hi everyone, Were three weeks out from Bike!Bike! Northeast here in Troy, NY and getting excited. If you plan to come, please register, so we have an idea of how much food and housing will be needed. Registration will take 2 minutes or less and can be done here: http://troybikerescue.org/bbneregistration. \\\ What is Bike!Bike! Northeast? /// BBNE is a regional version of the international conference Bike!Bike! It will be a gathering of community bicycle organizers to meet up, share skills, and build something bigger than our individual projects. So far, we have folks registered from Providence, Worcester, Ithaca, North Hampton, NYC and beyond, in addition to many local people. Right now, we are expecting anywhere from 40-60 participants. There will be a sliding scale registration fee of $10-25 and that will cover housing and food for the weekend. This is low/no-waste event; please bring a dish and utensil if possible (we will have extras on hand) http://troybikerescue.org/bikebikene Specific questions about housing? contact Sam at samharrington(a)gmail.com \\\ What kind of workshops are planned? /// The skillshare schedule is shaping up! Things will begin at 10am on Saturday 4/24. From Community Bike Shop 101, to Family Bike Advocacy, Bicycle Organizing with Media, to Welding for Dummies Like Us, and an Outdoor Kids' Rodeo. There is something for everyone, including you! Check it out: http://troybikerescue.org/bbneworkshops \\\ Skillshares and talking are great, but will there be a party?! /// YES! There will be a screening of the movie Veer about the thriving bicycle culture in Portland, Oregon at 7pm, and a rockin dance party with live bands, Blister Pack (Worcester, MA), and Beware! The Other Head of Science (Albany, NY) beginning at 9pm. http://www.myspace.com/bewaretheotherheadofscience http://www.myspace.com/blisterpack Andrew L. & Team BBNE

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Co-ops & shade tree shops
by Joel Gillespie 01 Apr '10

01 Apr '10

I'll apologize up front for the large amount of exposition to come. If you'd prefer to thin-slice, my question is this: What conflicts have other collectives encountered with "shade tree" mechanics and other unofficial LBS's, and what are reasonable steps to take to avoid unnecessary competition with them? Hi, this is Joel Gillespie from The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign (http://www.thebikeproject.org) in Illinois. We've recently entered into a Facility Use Agreement with the University of Illinois to collaborate with the U of I to open an on-campus location for our cooperative, to be known as the Campus Bike Project (clever, right?). A student group funded by an optional student sustainability fee gave us a grant to convert an old garage into a shop, and the university is allowing us to use the space rent- and utility-free (at least for the first year), and they're paying a 20-hour-per-week employee (me) out of the facilities budget. In return, we're doing basically the same things we already do at our original location -- assist with member repairs and build-a-bikes, refurbish and sell or donate used bikes, and sell a few very low-end, consumable or safety parts like tires, tubes, helmets, locks and lights. Our collective has an ongoing relationship with the U of I parking department where they give us the abandoned bikes from the previous school year (this was something that they approached us about, not something we sought). This new location has been the last straw for one of our erstwhile volunteer staffers, who operates a used-bike sales, frame painting, and bike repair business out of his house. He's made some noise on the local bike listservs and has been accusing us of some pretty nasty things like misusing our nonprofit status and has threatening an FBI investigation, etc., but I guess that's not really the point of my question. His view is that we're unfairly competing with him because we accept grants and get benefits from working with the university. The most reasonable part of his argument is that we're unfairly competing with his business since we sell repaired bikes to non-members, and we also don't have the best membership tracking system, which has probably led to non-members taking advantage of multiple unpaid visits for repair help. We have a "first visit free" policy for use of the shop and tools, after which you have to buy a membership to use the space -- $25 per yr for students, $40 per yr for non-students. Those points have some merit, and we're taking steps to make things more member-centric. We're also going to have very visible maps and handouts showing locations and contact info of LBS's. So, I guess what I'm asking, is that enough? Does what we're doing sound unreasonable? We don't want to bend over backwards to please someone just because they're complaining, but at the same time, we want to be a good neighbor to folks trying to make a decent living. Thanks in advance for your time and insights. Joel Gillespie The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850553/direct/01/

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Specialty Tools
by Jonathan Morrison 28 Mar '10

28 Mar '10

At heart I am a tool junkie, so one of the small highlights at Mountain States Bike Bike was seeing some of their specialty tools... http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Tools#Specialty_Tools What does your shop use that is special? Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

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mobile bike shops?
by adam schwartz 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

We recently lost our physical workshop/classroom/storage space due to the economy and are considering the concept of going mobile. We already developed a mobile bike shop based out of a landscaping trailer (photos attached), however due to a conflict with our previous partner organization (the Univ of Maryland) and our main funder our mobile bike shop was siezed and its future is currently being negotiated by lawyers. Its really sad and ugly but we are committed to moving forward despite the loss. We have now formed our own 501c3 in incredible time and have fully terminated our partnership with the university. Anyway, I wanted to hear about anyone who has had success with a mobile bike program. We are currently considering using a biodiesel school bus to house our operations as cheap space is very hard to come by in the Washington DC area. Thanks for your input and ideas. -- Adam Schwartz The Renaissance Youth Bike Shop, ECO Inc. rideyourbicycle(a)gmail.com

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mobile bike shops?
by Bob Giordano 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

I do think every shop/program should be prepared to go mobile if money or politics does not allow a rentable/buyable space. The streets/trails/parks are _public space_, ideal for public bicycle activity. You can go to the area in need, and post a schedule. Bio bus is understandable, bike power ideal (then no license, registration, fuel and the demo power of biking a small shop has huge positive ripple effects). Parking a bikable rig on the street overnight brings up interesting 'legal' issues. In missoula, a trailer or vehicle must be registered to be left on the street- I'd fight that restriction if it arose though, since bikes have almost zero negative impact. We have parked haywagons full of bikes on the streets for a few days with free parts and instructions for trailer building. -Bob g, free cycles missoula --- adam schwartz wrote: > We recently lost our physical workshop/classroom/storage space due to the > economy and are considering the concept of going mobile. We already developed a mobile bike shop based out of a landscaping trailer (photos attached), however due to a conflict with our previous partner > organization > (the Univ of Maryland) and our main funder our mobile bike shop was siezed > and its future is currently being negotiated by lawyers. Its really sad and > ugly but we are committed to moving forward despite the loss. We have now > formed our own 501c3 in incredible time and have fully terminated our partnership with the university. Anyway, I wanted to hear about anyone who > has had success with a mobile bike program. We are currently considering > using a biodiesel school bus to house our operations as cheap space is very > hard to come by in the Washington DC area. Thanks for your input and ideas. > > -- > Adam Schwartz > The Renaissance Youth Bike Shop, ECO Inc. > rideyourbicycle(a)gmail.com

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Abandoned Bike Collection partnerships with campuses and municipalities
by Erik Stockmeier 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Are there any groups out there with strong partnerships with local municipalities or campuses to collect abandoned bicycles? I know the Recyclery (Chicago) and many other groups certainly pick up donations from police departments and the like, but we have a number of volunteers and a campus environmental group working on setting up a structured collection program and are looking for ways to proceed. Do you, for example, have a specific notice or flyer you attach to bikes? We are thinking of something that says "hello, this bike looks abandoned. if it is yours, you can fix it up at the recyclery. Otherwise it will be removed..." Anyhow, just wondering if anyone has already done this. Thanks for your help! Erik @ The Recyclery (Chicago)

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Accounting for Collectives.
by Jonathan Morrison 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

This was started at Mountain States Bike! Bike! but I am hoping it can continue... http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Accounting Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

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collective vs non-profit
by Liza Mattana 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hey, Can someone lay out a simple list of pros and cons for each please? Right now we're a 501c3, with a 5 member board of directors, 2 part time employees, and several committed volunteers. We came across some issues with the gambling commission when we were trying to get a fundraiser/raffle together. Basically, we need a 15 member voting-member body that votes on the board, which sounds like a collective to me. I don't know, maybe it's not. I'm confused. Thanks, liza -- Liza Mattana president www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

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Good luck, louisville!
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Good luck tomorrow and this weekend Louisville. We're rooting for you and thinking about you kids. Looks like Colorado may get a foot of snow tonight...yay for our out of town guests on bikes, huh? Hope everything goes well. There should be some good bike energy happening this weekend. Love you all. Be safe. josh.

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Suggestions for finding a good shop manager
by Rich Points 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Hey All, We've started looking for a new shop manager. After a week or so of resume submissions nothing stands out. We had the same experience last time we hired a shop manager. I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager what their experience has been like. Do you have any suggestions about where to find qualified bike mechanics with non profit backgrounds? Ride On! -- Rich Points Community Cycles Executive Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (John Carlson)
by John Carlson 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

We also changed our model from having one shop manager to creating multiple job positions with defined descriptions. We have two paid mechanics and a volunteer coordinator and a youth coordinator. We also have set up teams with different responsibilities that can be shared with volunteers. This also leads the way to having a more community run organization. We are still working on it, but our new model is proving more successful in eliminating bottlenecks, staff overload and getting more volunteers involved. John http://www.sibleybikedepot.org St. Paul, MN On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:47 PM, <thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org>wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir) > 2. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (andrew lynn) > 3. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:40:04 -0700 > From: joshua muir <muirjoshua(a)gmail.com> > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop > manager > Message-ID: > <8ab5b3a81003162040w50e95f65q3c73ffef72813c1e(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > >From the collective perspective, I say "open up". Give collective members > responsibilities, understand that sometimes you'll all have to take up some > slack, and find managers within your community and organization. Coming > from the Bike Church in Santa Cruz with the clerkship model, that's where > my > heart lies. management jobs are open to the whole collective and they > rotate. If you truly give the responsibilities over, the folks who love > your org will take it on as their own and really come through. I know, > sounds hard to believe, but it works. > > And it works in a way that creates a shop space that actually represents > the > collective personalities (yes this includes faults as well as excellences). > > This model also takes time to develop the job descriptions (clerkships) in > a > way that is acccessible to more than one individual (so that they can > rotate, and still be performed well.) > > It sounds like this might be a large leap for some other shops, but it has > many benefits. > > And if you need qualified mechanics, offer a series of master mechanics > classes to your volunteers and go thru some manuals start to finish. In my > mind the point of the community bike project is to dispell the myth that > you > have to hire out to find someone knowledgable enough to do the job. > > best of luck > > josh > > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Rich Points <rich(a)communitycycles.org > >wrote: > > > Hey All, > > We've started looking for a new shop manager. After a week or so of > resume > > submissions nothing stands out. We had the same experience last time we > > hired a shop manager. > > I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager what > > their experience has been like. Do you have any suggestions about where > to > > find qualified bike mechanics with non profit backgrounds? > > Ride On! > > > > -- > > Rich Points > > Community Cycles Executive Director > > http://CommunityCycles.org > > Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org > > 720-565-6019 (W) > > 303-589-0597 (C) > > Donate your old car to Community Cycles > > http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > To unsubscribe, send a blank email to > > TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org > > To manage your subscription, plase visit: > > > > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > > > > -- > Joshua Muir > muirjoshua(a)gmail.com > > Frances Cycles -- www.francescycles.com > Handbuilt cycling framesets > Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance > (831) 469-3369 > > The Bicycle Church Collective > Community Self-Service Cycle Repair > 3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday > 703 Pacific Ave (enter on Spruce St) > Santa Cruz, CA 95060 > (831) 425-2453 >

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Speaking of Bike!Bike!
by Ainsley Naylor 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

We're putting photo galleries up on the Bike!Bike! history page! If you have a flickr account, just add your photos and tag then "bikebike2008" or whatever year, and they will automatically get added to the photo pool. Who has the family photos we took at the end of the weekend in San Fran? It was so great to get most of us together for some pictures, but I've never seen them. I'm going to make sure we do that again this year! ainsley pirate.

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Addresses of Far-Flung Projects
by Ainsley Naylor 11 Mar '10

11 Mar '10

A Message from Bike!Bike! Toronto We are hoping to finish compiling our list of addresses and contact info for projects to invite to this year's International Bike!Bike! Conference, but we need some help collecting addresses of groups outside of Canada and the U.S. If you have a contact, website or even a city and Project Name (even vaguely), please pass it along to us so we can look them up and send them an invitation. Also! Registration is now open for the conference. If you feel like it, please head on over to bikebike.org and check it out. We haven't updated all of the pages - we are still waiting for some help from y'all on writing a history page - but it is up and running. Any questions can be passed along to us at bikebike2010(a)gmail.com Have a great time at the regionals! Ainsley and the Pirates.

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How are you storing cable housing?
by Rich Points 09 Mar '10

09 Mar '10

Hey All, Over the years we've tried a variety of ways to store cable housing and we're still looking for the ideal solution. Anyone out there have a good way to store them? Frustrated -- Rich Points Community Cycles Executive Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html

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Mountain States Bike! Bike! is coming March 19, 20 & 21 - Get your registration on!
by Rich Points 09 Mar '10

09 Mar '10

Hey All, If you're planning on coming to Mountain States Bike! Bike! please let us know you're coming by registering asap. <http://mountainstates.bikebike.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl…> The schedule is starting to fill out nicely. <http://mountainstates.bikebike.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl…> Thanks -- Rich Points Community Cycles Executive Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html

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Community Cycles is hiring a shop manager
by Rich Points 08 Mar '10

08 Mar '10

*Community Cycles - Creating a Culture of CyclingHiring: Community Bike Shop Manager* Community Cycles <http://communitycycles.org/> is looking to hire a full-time shop manager. The ideal candidate has several years of bicycle shop, mechanical, retail, managerial and nonprofit experience. Experience working with youth a plus and a familiarity with older bicycles and parts is required. General responsibilities include but are not limited to: * Run and oversee our community bike shop and its programs <http://communitycycles.org/programs.html> * Manage volunteers * Inventory and ordering * Oversee sales and their promotion, including daily/petty cash management * Checking in repairs/estimates * Quality Control * Bilingual Spanish/English a plus * Basic computer skills a must, Proficiency with Google Docs preferred * $24,000 annual salary Resumes will ONLY be accepted at resume(a)communitycycles.org <mailto:resume@communitycycles.org>. Please copy the contents of your resume into the body of the email and attach your resume document. DO NOT phone us about this position.

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lending book library of bike books in your shop?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 07 Mar '10

07 Mar '10

Hey Everyone, I hope the slow traffic on the list of late is a factor of everyone getting some good back-end planning time. In the past few years, we've collected a decent stack of bicycle repair and other type of bike books (things like Lance Armstrong's book, or local mountain bike trail guidebooks, etc). We'd like to do something productive with these, and it occurred to me that we could lend them out to members. Does anyone else have something similar? What do you all do with the books that are donated? Thanks. Hope you're warm out there! josh.

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is bikecollective.org directory down?
by Cris Shirley 04 Mar '10

04 Mar '10

http://www.bikecollectives.org/directory.html its not working for me, and so are several other features like the wiki seem to be broke cris

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Mountain States Bike! Bike! Time to Register
by Rich Points 03 Mar '10

03 Mar '10

Hey All, Just wanted to send you a reminder to register if you plan on attending Mountain States Bike! Bike!. http://mountainstates.bikebike.org/ Ride On! -- Rich Points Community Cycles Executive Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html

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Video of a consensus, meeting and facilitation workshop at the Davis Bike Collective
by Jason Moore 02 Mar '10

02 Mar '10

We had a professional facilator trained in consensus based decision making come and give a workshop for us. Thought other co-ops might be interested: http://www.archive.org/details/KevinWolfOnFacilitationAndConsensus -- http://mae.ucdavis.edu/~biosport/jkm/ Sports Biomechanics Lab, UC Davis (http://biosport.ucdavis.edu) Davis Bike Collective Minister, Davis, CA ( http://www.davisbikecollective.org) Office: +01 530-752-2163 Home: +01 530-753-0794

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