On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Erik Stockmeier <
eriks@therecyclery.org> wrote:
> Hi all-
>
> Like many shops, The Recyclery has given away free bicycles with helmets and
> locks as part of the charitable end of our mission for some time. For a
> number of reasons, including several new possible partnerships with
> Immigrant and Refugee groups in the Chicago area and the desire to
> qualitatively improve some of the long-term outcomes of our Freecyclery
> program (which currently ends with the bicycle/signature exchange), we are
> now considering developing a more thorough manual and 2-4 hour class
> curriculum. It would cover basic maintenance questions (patching tires,
> adjusting brakes and derailleurs) as well as bike safety/common sense
> (avoiding theft, sharing the road) and would, of course, make clear that The
> Recyclery exists as a place where they can get help if something does go
> wrong.
>
> However, not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I'm wondering if any other shops
> have already developed a similar curriculum or handbook. If so, want to
> share?
>
> If not (but you are interested in the idea), would you be interested in
> forming an internet working group to collaborate on such a resource we could
> share? Right now I am working with one of our potential partners and we are
> picturing a graphically-intense book, the text of which could potentially be
> translated by people that work for their organization into a number of
> different languages. From there we would recruit some volunteer graphic
> designers or find someone that knows how to work something like scribus
> (
http://www.scribus.net/) to make a nice little booklet (I'm picturing
> something that could be reproduced photocopier/zine style or done up more
> flashy) available to all.
>
> OK.
>