Riders,

New to the list and wanted to share a super fun event we did at a local music venue here in Denton, TX: bicycle valet. Our community bike shop volunteers exchanged tickets for bicycles and placed everyone's ride in a safe place to be retrieved by us at their liesure. No locks or dark alleyway telephone poles required for safety, no fumbling for the right angle on that off-brand U-lock. The parking lot was pleasantly unfull until a late hour.

We canvassed at our valet table. Event promoters supported the fewer-cars evening by offering free cover and beverages. The college-age crowd was quite fond of the idea, and I can fairly say we had a blast.

Show up earlier than you would for a normal music venue (bar staff graciously helped our solo volunteer through the first rough half hour). Folks, this is fun, but it was work. We valeted seventy bicycles, dozens more locked up themselves, and this at a venue of probably no more than two hundred people. You need at least four people to do this: one ticketeer, one valet, and one security gaurd for the bikes, and one to keep the security gaurd company. Make sure the venue (bar or not) restricts access to the parking area. Make a "map" with ticket numbers and bike locations, no bike without a ticket or license, and ask each picker-uper to describe their bike in detail. And your valet needs to be comfortable on kamikazes (fixies w/no brakes).

Remember to turn people's lights off, and take tips for your organization. Bring a good bicycle pump with presta/schraeder capabilities and a gauge.

Something we didn't anticipate, the two a. m. crowd produces wobbly folk. It was frankly discussed that some of the less experienced riders might have fared better driving home. Rather than have this devil's argument, make sure you're at a venue of a size you can manage (we were) and that you can get everyone home safely (we did, but I fretted a bit near the end). I'll leave it to my colleagues to add anything else, or make corrections.

In Solidarity,

James Thompson Shop Manager Querencia Community Bicycle Shop Denton, TX