Yellow Bike March Newsletter

This is all good shit to know, y'all. Yellow Bike is one of the best ways to give back to the cycling community, through parts donations, donations of time and energy (volunteering), or just building bikes to give away at their yellow bike drops and assorted other bike releases. Here's their March Newsletter in its entirety:

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*March 2008 Yellow Bike Newsletter*

Dear supporters of Yellow Bike,

We've had a busier than ever month here at the shop with record numbers of
folks coming through every day to work on bikes for themselves and for the
community. We've got some great projects and partnerships coming up in the
next months. Read on for the details . . .

-The Yellow Bike Project (YBP)

*YBP AT THE TRIANGLE FARMER'S MARKET - **Wednesday March 12th, 4 - 7pm
-*YBP will be partnering with KUT Radio to set up a booth at the
Triangle
Park Farmer's Market "Picnic in the
Park." We'll have a small workstation set up to perform basic
repairs/adjustments, and we'll be there to answer all your questions about
what we're up to at your community bike shop.*
*

*REI **BIKE DRIVE! - **SUNDAY MARCH 16th, Downtown REI, 11am - 7pm** - *Bring
your lonely old bike to the downtown REI so that we can give it a new life
on the streets. We're in need of bikes for upcoming Earth Day and Bike
Month events as well as our ongoing Earn-A-Bike and Youth Education
programs. We're looking for both adult and kid-sized complete (or almost
complete) bikes to be overhauled, repaired and back on Austin streets in the
coming weeks. Come on down and lighten your load.

*BICYCLE ISSUES AT CITY COUNCIL* *REDUX*- *Thursday March 20th, City Hall,
Council Chambers, * *301 W. 2nd Street* *(no time available at the time of
this writing. Check this site for updates on
agenda
*.) Two very important issues for bicyclists have been rescheduled to be
heard at this City Council meeting. You can vote your position on the issues
three days prior to the meeting on the computers in the lobby of City Hall,
or show up in person on the 20th to speak, or just show your support by
attending. We're hoping to get a large group of cyclists out similar to the
group that showed up in opposition to the helmet law in 2006.

*1) The presentation of the Street Smarts Task Force*: The task force was
created in response to the proposed helmet law in 2006 and is proposing
comprehensive improvements in infrastructure, education, and enforcement
efforts in Austin that IF approved by council will be a mandate to city
government to bring about these changes that will benefit all cyclists. See
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/streetsmarts.htm for more info.

*2) The Yellow Bike Project long term lease on City land*: YBP has been
working with the city for over a year to find a suitable home for our new
shop once the current 51st street shop has been demolished. Our search has
led us to a site at East 12th and Webberville for which we have been working
with Public Works and Austin Energy towards a lease agreement. When the
lease is secured, YBP will build a 3000 sq ft facility on the site as its
new headquarters.

*AUSTIN CYCLING ASSOCIATION HOSTS CANDIDATES' FORUM - *On April 7th at 7pm,
at the Hancock Building boardroom in the LCRA building complex at 3700 Lake
Austin Boulevard, there will be a forum sponsored by the Austin Cycling
Association, the League of Bicycling Voters, and the Yellow Bike Project.
This is your opportunity to let the next City Council know that cycling
issues matter, and a chance to show up in numbers and be counted as a
political force to be reckoned with in this town. Meet at the 51st street
shop to ride there at 6pm, or meet us along the way (click here for
map).

*UPCOMING YELLOW AND KID'S BIKE RELEASES - *YBP has committed to
releasing more than 70 bikes between now and our 11th birthday party on May
31; we are confident that we can meet this goal with the help of our great
community of supporters (YOU!) Head on up to the shop to have fun getting
your hands dirty building free bikes for the community.*
*

*KEALING MIDDLE SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS - *Youth programming at
Kealing is still going strong. We have almost completed an earn-a-bike
class with youth from the Boys and Girls Club. Youth in this class have
been introduced to the workings of both of our shops as well as learning
basic bike maintenance and fixing up bikes at our 12th St. satellite shop.
We are starting a new class at Kealing with youth from the Citizen Schools
program. We will be exploring the neighborhood by bike every Thursday
afternoon, installing a bike rack at the historic Victory Grill and
participating in our Artistic Community Walking and Cycling Carnival on May
17th (stay tuned for more information in future newsletters).

*TREASURE CITY SATELLITE SHOP NEWS* - The 12th Street shop has been keeping
regular hours (3-6pm), 3 days a week (Mon, Thur and Fri) for several months
now and consistency seems to be paying off. We have a nice crew of
volunteers that come regularly, the shop is in good working order with two
tool walls, three bike racks and a nice quiver of ready to ride bikes, not
to mention a slew of cool project bikes looking for the right caretaker. We
have a security light and best of all, a computer, so all our work is logged
into the big Yellow Bike Database. What we really need is to get more
apprentice coordinators and be open 4+ days a week. See below and come by
for a visit.

*APPRENTICE COORDINATORS NEEDED -* Our shops have been busier than ever, and
we need more coordinators to ensure that everyone has a positive experience
at the shop. We are looking for people who are interested in learning to
work on bikes, have a love for teaching others, and who can reliably commit
to a shop once per week. No experience necessary. Like everything at
Yellow Bike you learn while getting your hands greasy and going for it.
Develop your mechanics skills and learn shop procedures while helping people
repair their bikes. If you'd like to be part of our continued growth as a
community resource, come to a monthly Collective meeting (first Tuesday,
7:30 pm at 51st street main shop) or simply talk to a coordinator when the
shop is open and let us know when you can help out.
Due to ever-increasing demand for shop resources, we will be increasing the
number of shop coordinators and tool walls at our workshops while
capping the number of shop users to ensure that everyone gets the help they
need to make their time at Yellow Bike productive and educational. We
recommend showing up during the first hour of a shop period to increase your
chances of getting a workstation. *

SUMMARY OF FIVE SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND SUPPORT BICYCLING IN
AUSTIN -*

1. Send a note to the City Council letting them know you want them to
support the Street Smarts Task Force Recommendations. We've made it easy to
have your voice heard, providing pre-addressed and stamped postcards at our
main 51st street shop.
2. Attend the City Council Meeting Thursday, March 20th. Watch for
updates in case of rescheduling.
3. Bring a donation bike to the downtown REI Bike Drive, Sunday, March
16th, benefitting YBP; we'll give you a tax write-off and put your lonely
bike to good use.
4. Apprentice coordinate a shop at YBP.
5. Build a yellow bike!

*SCHEDULE *-

*Shop * *Mon * *Tues** * *Weds * *Thurs * *Fri * *Sat * *Sun * Main Shop:
2013 E. 51st St.

6-10 pm
(Bilingual)

(Collective

Meeting

1st Tues.)
6-10 pm

6-10 pm*

(volunteer)
6-10 pm 1-5pm

Treasure City Shop:
1720 East 12th St.

3-6 pm
(Bilingual) 3-6 pm
(Bilingual) 3-6 pm
(Bilingual) Shop hours for other Austin area Community Bike Shops (Yellow
Bike volunteer hours do not transfer)

Bikes Across Borders :
300 Allen St.
7-12am
7-12am

(Bilingual) - Indicates a bilingual shop. Volunteers that speak Spanish will
be present. *
* Red Hours* *indicate Volunteer Shops:* These shops are reserved for
volunteering. Volunteers are also welcome anytime our shops are open.
Volunteer Shops are usually less busy and facilitate a better learning
experience. Personal projects are not allowed during volunteer shops; they
can only be worked on during Open Shops. While volunteering, you can learn
to fix bikes while giving back to YBP or accrue volunteer hours counting
towards a free bike of your very own.
*** Collective Meetings:* Shop "closed" for collective meeting at our Main
Shop (51st Street) on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Meeting begins at 7:30
pm. Open to the public. If you would like to contribute ideas to the
collective, make requests, learn more about the project and its internal
workings, or just get more involved this is the forum for you.
**** Volunteers Needed:* We need volunteers so that we can expand and
maintain hours of our shops. We want to be open more often. Come to the main
51st street shop to learn how you can help.
--
Web Servant
Austin's Yellow Bike | www.austinyellowbike.org

"Be the change you would like to see in the world." - Gandhi
"Keep Cycling: it is Undoubtedly the Best form of Activism there is."