- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

keeping tools from disappearing
by Bob Giordano 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

All 12 of our work stations have basic tools. Everyone shares a chain tool, cable cutters and a crank puller though. For years, those tools would 'disappear' every few months. We did not want to have a sign-out system, so we chained a bike fork to the chain tool, a training wheel to the cable cutter and a big crank to the crank puller. These tools no longer go 'missing'. We also throw out the tops to the small chain oil bottles (3 bottles circulate), and the oil continues to flow now, and does not go missing. -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula Shop: 732 S. 1st St. West, 541.7284 12PM-6PM Mon-Sat Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation www.strans.org, mist(a)strans.org, 406-880-6834

1 0

New SF Cycling Forum
by Alaine Anhalt 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

Hello everyone! I just launched a new cycling forum for SF bike riders as part of a graphic design thesis. The website is still under construction but the forum is up and running. It's purpose it to create a resource for cyclists who have qualms about riding around the city because they think it's too hard or too dangerous. It's my hope that by offering solutions, people will choose to ride their bikes more! I would love for anyone with a moment to check it out and add some content. These types of forums are only as valuable as their level of activity. Already in the past two days I have a ton of posts from new riders with questions about riding, but my problem is that I have less people with expert knowledge who can provide answers. I have noticed that this thinktank has a fantastic collective wealth of knowledge and it's my hope that if only a few people share some insight on the forum it will be a much more valuable resource to the cyclists of SF. You don't have to be from SF to know the answers to most of these questions. Your help means a lot to the cycling community! In addition, I have a soft design of an app and a series of events, all hypothetical pending the proper funding. In the meantime I'm hoping the forum is a useful resource :) http://biketheresf.com/forums/ http://biketheresf.com/register/ Hope everyone has a great day! -- Cheers, Alaine

3 4

1304 Bikes Crowd-Funding Campaign
by 1304bikes 22 Apr '13

22 Apr '13

Please let me know if I'm off base for posting this here, but I just wanted to let everyone know the we here in Raleigh are trying to reopen our shop. We've been closed since our shop had to close due to zoning issues outside our control in 2009. Little traction was made in the last 4 years trying to secure a new space, but we have finally found one we think is ideal. It's 1500sqft of warehouse type space (with room to expand if needed) in downtown. However, we have little money and no fundraising mechanisms in place, so we're asking for community support to raise the money for our first years rent. This will allow us to get our programs restarted and set up fundraising/grants to make it sustainable in the long run. Thanks for reading and we look forward to getting active again and hopefully returning to bike!bike! http://igg.me/at/1304bikes https://www.facebook.com/1304Bikes -- 1304bikes www.1304bikes.com

2 1

Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike!Bike! FB Site
by Tony DeFilippo 20 Apr '13

20 Apr '13

Hi there, My name is Tony DeFilippo, I'm the social media manager for Velocity Co-Op in Alexandria, VA. I'd like to join your Bike!Bike! 2013 New Orleans group as our Velocity Coop FB account identity but when I go to do it I'm not seeing that there is a 'Like' available. Do I need to be invited? Thanks for the help, it looks like a cool event!! Tony On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:27 AM, John Patterson < john.patterson(a)velocitycoop.org> wrote: > Thanks, Tony, > > Per their message below (which I should have included in my email), best > if you send them an email directly for us to join the group... > > Regards, John > > ___________________________ > John Patterson | Director | VéloCity Bicycle Co-op | 2111 Mt. Vernon Ave., > Alexandria, VA 22301 | velocitycoop.org | +1 703-835-0699 | Mobile: +1 > 703-608-3660 > > > *From: *Plan B <nolabikeproject(a)gmail.com> > *Subject: **Re: [TheThinkTank] List of mailing addresses for community > bike projects* > *Date: *April 16, 2013 11:36:22 AM EDT > *To: *The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > *Reply-To: *The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > > Hey there. > > Yes, probably. Mr. Morrison is a smart cookie! > > Also, we'd like to encourage people to join the Facebook group if they > have the capability. We'll also share the list on that page as well. > > https://www.facebook.com/groups/251742101526928/ > > Unfortunately, the bots and spammers have gotten pretty vicious trying to > join the FB group, so if you get rejected, please send me a message via > thinktank and I'll let you in. 99% of legit people will be accepted into the > group. We're hoping using this group as a primary source of info can keep > us from overloading the thinktank with minutae. > > Would it be helpful if the list were cut and pasted the invitation list to > The Think Tank (not an attachment) for people to peruse? We're trying to > gauge numbers and encourage early registration (which will be available > soon) as we feel that this event may be heavily attended. (We hope so!) > > Hope to see everyone in a few short months!!!! > > Victor Pizarro > Project Organizer > Plan B, The New Orleans Community Bike Project > > > > On Apr 18, 2013, at 11:23 AM, Tony DeFilippo wrote: > > Hi John, > > It doesn't look like there is an option to 'like' or 'join' under the > admin roll for Facebook, however I shared the group and highlighted it on > the Velocity Timeline. I'll look into it further this evening, there must > be a way. > > Tony > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Tony DeFilippo <tony(a)ad28.net> > Date: Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:16 AM > Subject: Re: Bike!Bike! FB Site > To: sheba farrin <sheba.farrin(a)velocitycoop.org> > > > Of course! > > > On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:12 AM, sheba farrin < > sheba.farrin(a)velocitycoop.org> wrote: > >> Tony, >> May I please hand this off to you? >> Thank you! >> :-) >> >> >> ----- >> Sheba Farrin >> Sciathan Productions >> Velocity CoOp >> ----- >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: John Patterson <john.patterson(a)velocitycoop.org> >> Date: Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 7:19 AM >> Subject: Bike!Bike! FB Site >> To: Sheba Farrin <sheba.farrin(a)velocitycoop.org> >> >> >> I am such a FB neophyte... I can't see how to "join" or "like" this >> group as VeloCity... Can you give it a go? >> >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/251742101526928/ >> >> Thanks! >> >> Best, John >> ___________________________ >> John Patterson | Director | VéloCity Bicycle Co-op | 2111 Mt. Vernon >> Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301 | velocitycoop.org | +1 703-835-0699 | >> Mobile: +1 703-608-3660 >> >> >> >> >> > > >

2 1

Re: [TheThinkTank] Income Verification for EAB
by corvallisbikes 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

Not personally a fan of income verification because it creates an us & them atmosphere. We all pull together and everybody gives a little more than she gets. We only give bikes or parts as incentives for volunteering, without means testing. That said, I think the standard most charities use around here is food stamps. If you qualify for them, you qualify for all sorts of freebies, but not enough to actually live comfortably. -Vernon *Corvallis Bicycle Collective* www.CorvallisBikes.org <http://www.corvallisbikes.org/> Twitter @cvoBikes <http://twitter.com/cvobikes> *Hours & Directions to Our Shop <http://www.corvallisbikes.org/findUs>* *(541) 224-6885* On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:56 AM, director <director(a)communitycycles.org>wrote: > Hey All, > So we've received a federal grant for our EAB program. As part of this > we're required to income verify participants. Are any of you doing income > verification for any of your programs? If so do you have best practices? > Pitfalls to look out for? > > Any advice is appreciated. > > Ride On! > > -- > -- > Rich Points > http://communitycycles.org > Executive Director > (c)303-589-0597 > (w)720-565-6019 > >

1 0

Income Verification for EAB
by director 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

Hey All, So we've received a federal grant for our EAB program. As part of this we're required to income verify participants. Are any of you doing income verification for any of your programs? If so do you have best practices? Pitfalls to look out for? Any advice is appreciated. Ride On! -- -- Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019 Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles

4 3

Opportunity for Free Planet Bike Gear!
by Mike Samuelson 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

Hi Think Tank, *The Alliance for Biking & Walking is happy to announce that we are again partnering with Planet Bike to donate Planet Bike merchandise to community bike shops across the continent. Woo hoo! * Planet Bike has more than $5,000 worth of refurbished merchandise that they need to clear to make room in their warehouse. With their commitment to advocacy, Planet Bike is excited to offer these refurbished products free of charge to up to ten community bike shops who are Alliance members and have earn-a-bike programs for youth. Attached is the catalog of gear available through this offer. Per Planet Bike’s request, to be eligible to receive a donation, your organization must: - Have an earn-a-bike program that includes a robust youth contingent *or * is exclusively youth focused; - Have an up to date website; - Submit a brief description of your youth earn-a-bike program; - Commit to pass these items on free of charge to kids (18 years or younger) who are active in your program (except pumps, which may be kept in the shop for communal use); and - Be a member of the Alliance for Biking & Walking. Merchandise will be available to just 10 shops, so that each shop receives a meaningful amount of product. Shops that did not receive product during last fall’s round of donations will be given preference, although all shops that meet the above criteria are eligible. *If you are interested, please complete the attached Customer Information Sheet and order form (by filling in the "Quantity Requested" column) and email these forms back to me by Monday, April 22nd. *In addition, please include a brief description of your earn-a-bike program and acknowledge that you will give away donated product that you receive from Planet Bike through this offer. * * I’m happy to answer any questions. Best, Mike -- Mike Samuelson *Member Services and Open Streets Coordinator* *Alliance for Biking & Walking* * * Phone: (202) 449-9692 x7 email: Mike(a)PeoplePoweredMovement.org P.O. Box 65150 Washington, DC 20035 *We've got big plans for 2013! Join or renew<http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/index.php/membership/welcome/> with the Alliance TODAY!* * *

2 2

Cyclocamp Rome 24th May - 2nd June
by Ciclofficine popolari Roma 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

CITIES ARE NOT FOR CARS! We are glad to invite you to a Cyclocamp, a Forum of bike recycling and community workshops and the 10th Interplanetary Critical Mass (Ciemmona), which will take place in Rome, May 24th – June 2nd 2013 Rome is a city where mobility is exclusively thought for cars. Few bicycles, little public transport, and lack of perception of the streets as a common good. Public spaces in Rome are seen and used as parking lots, while everything that doesn’t move in a car represents an obstacle. Thanks to this adverse horizon, the daily use of a bicycle in Rome brings along an intrinsic subversive status. Biking fast in between tons of slow and smelly scrap metal naturally leads us to imagine a more equal, just and car-free future. Seen from a bike saddle, cars in our city seems like animals of a remote past. Thus, in 2002, Critical Mass was born in Rome followed by people’s Bike Kitchens. As soon as these two paths crossed, without any help from the State or the Municipality, the bicycles had exponentially multiplied and the urban biker appeared in the roman metropolitan landscape. After ten years of wrenches and ideas, we would like to reflect about the meaning and the evolution of today’s Bike Kitchens and Bike Communities, the sense of the reappropriation of the common spaces and the importance of the knowledge exchange. We feel the need to think about our bike riding direction and about the meaning of our mechanical skills. Starting from these questions we decided to share these thoughts with others Bike Kitchens which have similar experiences and horizons, even though belonging to dissimilar metropolitan environments. Places where, for example, biking is already part of the means of transport and it’s regulated by laws and standard normative, or places in which Bike Kitchens are sponsored by public or private entities, or can be organized as non-profit entities. For all these reasons we thought to create a gathering between the Bike Kitchens and Critical Mass which will take place the preceding week to the 10th Ciemmona (May 29th, 30th, 31st). Therefore we decided to host a Cyclocamp and a Bike Kitchen Forum, not only for greasing ourselves from head to feet but also for sharing thoughts, ideas, practices and knowledge. We are convinced that putting together all these Bike Kitchens, in their similarities and mainly differences, we will be able to bring a renewed conscience in our global thinking and local acting. In order to promote this discussion we thought that could be useful to concentrate it in the three first days before the Ciemmona (29th , 30th, 31st of May) in which will take place the Forum. We will pleased to see you partecipate from the 24th of May to the 2nd of June in a series of events: Cyclocamp, Forum of bike recycling and community workshops and the 10th interplanetary Ciemmona. For all the participants, the garden of the CSOA eXSnia will be available for your camping tents, your skills, your ideas, etc. The camp site is totally free and you have to collaborate in its organization and management. We are strictly anti-fascist, anti-sexist and anti-racist. Please do not join us if you do not recognize yourself in these fundamental values. Roman people’s Bike Kitchen Network The Cyclocamp: http://ciclofficinepopolari.it/en/iniziative/2013/cyclocamp-roma/ , http://cyclocamp.org The Forum: http://ciclofficinepopolari.it/en/iniziative/2013/forum-delle-ciclofficine/ The 10th Interplanetary Critical Mass (Ciemmona): http://ciemmona.org/en The location: http://exsnia.it/ciclofficina Please send a confirmation email to: info(a)ciclofficinepopolari.it Book a space for your tent sending an email to: accommodation(a)ciemmona.org Do you need a bike? We’ll do what we can! Write to: accomodation(a)ciemmona.org -- -------------------------------------------------------- www.ciclofficinepopolari.it orari e indirizzi http://www.ciclofficinepopolari.it/ciclofficine.html

2 1

List of mailing addresses for community bike projects
by Ryan Peterson 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

Hey thinktank, We'll be sending out invitations to this year's BikeBike within the next month or so, but before we do, I'd like to make sure we have as many correct mailing addresses as possible. I've attached the mailing list, and I'd love it if people could look through it and email me (ryan(a)bikeproject.org) with any corrections and/or additions to the list. Thanks!

7 7

Book: Defying Poverty with Bicycles
by Matthew VanSlyke 14 Apr '13

14 Apr '13

ThinkTank: Has anyone read this book? I did stumble upon Bike Portland's 2/8 blog post<http://bikeportland.org/2013/02/08/new-book-defying-poverty-with-bicycles-8…>which gave an excellent review. http://www.onestreet.org/bicycle-programs/70-one-street-press

2 1