So what's happening in Austin???

Looks like lots of stuff is going on with regards to the Austin cycling community these days. First and foremost, does anybody know what happened to East Side Pedal Pushers? It looks like Lee and crew have closed up the 6th St. shop in accordance to their landlord's wishes, but I'm unsure if they've found a new location or what. I've tried calling their listed number but it just rings and rings. If anyone knows what's going on, please let me know. I'm really hoping that they landed on their feet somewhere close by, as that area needs a knowledgeable commuter bike shop to keep the East Side rolling on two wheels.

Secondly, it sounds like the Yellow Bike Project is in a bit of a bind, at least location-wise. Due to come code violations they were unaware of, the Yellow Bike crew has been forced to disassemble the shack they were operating out of at their Treasure City location and down-size the operation so that it can be run out of a shipping container that they previously used for storage. As you can imagine, this doesn't leave a lot of room for much beyond the barest shop essentials. Professor Conti has gone into more detail on his blog about the issue, but for all you DIY bikers out there, this has been a pretty large blow. I usually don't push people for donations, but if you have ANY SPARE MONEY at all and you happen to repair your own bikes, it would behoove you to donate some cheddar to the Yellow Bike Project. They also need donations of skilled labor and parts, but due to the cost of building a building, money is first and foremost on their list. Last I heard they had around half of the $250k they needed to build and open the new shop on the Weberville plot of land, so please help out in any way you can.

Mellow Johnny's has been leaving an even larger footprint in the downtown area as of late and I've been loving it. Not only did they partner with some crappy mix station to give away almost 750 bicycles last month and offer to hook the BAC meetings up with coffee (I personally appreciate that Ben!), but they've recently updated and expanded their website in a big way, giving each aspect of their services its' own page. The new site goes into detail about their commuter hub program, which is something I'm especially excited about. For $1 you get to drop off your bike, use their showers, store shit in their lockers, and if it's a Friday they'll even hook you up with free coffee. Talk about awesome if you work in the downtown area or take a bus from there (like I do oftentimes). Lets just hope the showers there don't turn into the 24-hour fitness showers. I swear that place was like Craigslist casual encounters for the workout crowd...

I'll only mention this one briefly since it's been covered much better than I could possibly manage already (nice article y'all), but last time the Bicycle Advisory Council met there was a bit of discussion about the upcoming removal of all the downtown parking meters in favor of the one-per-block parking kiosks, and how this would adversely affect the bicycle parking situation in the area. One solution mentioned that is already being implemented in Toronto is to turn the posts into dedicated bicycle parking instead of removing them entirely. With that whole reduce, reuse, recycle thing being all the rage with the kids these days, that would be a hell of a solution if the powers-that-be could figure out a way to make them not look so crappy. I mean Austin's full of brilliant metal workers (I'm lookin' at you Avi!), but even if they just go with rings on poles, nothing can look worse than a parking meter so no biggie. Guess it wasn't that brief.

The League of Bicycle Voters are currently launching an initiative they're calling "Project Catapult". This is an attempt to identify immediate needs in the Austin cycling community and get them addressed sooner rather than later (re: 12 years to implement 1/3 of the old city bike plan). To this end they recently opened up an online survey, asking locals to identify what major issues affect them in their daily commutes. If you bike around this town any appreciable amount, please take a few minutes and fill it out!

This one's just a personal thing but I'm mentioning it because she's rad; Annie P is planning a ride this Saturday. Flyer forthcoming, but based on her last few I'm sure it's going to be sensational.

Keep your eyes peeled for more news as I hear about it, and if you know something I don't, holla!