Tidbits from the Yellow Bike Project collective meeting.

A couple people have asked me for news from the Yellow Bike Project collective meeting, so here are the juicy bits:

First bit of interesting news I heard had to do with the monies. Through their on-going fundraising efforts plus what was brought in via their first ever donation mail-out, they've accumulated a war chest of $162,284.20, or nearly 2/3 of the $250k they need to build their new headquarters. FREAKING AWESOME! If you want to donate to the cause, you can either do so online via paypal (though they take a 3% bite), or you can just mail your donation to their mailing address on Leona. Less than $88k is needed to reach their goals, so some of you big-time local bikers (I'm looking at you Lance) need to pony up and support these cats.

ALL shops for the immediate future are going to operate out of the Treasure City location near 12th and Chicon. Since they've had to tear down the Yellow Bike shed, all operations are being conducted in or around their converted shipping container located on the east side of the building. Due to space and resources there will be limited opportunities to build yellow bikes/sale bikes, since most of the on-site facilities will be dedicated to owner repairs and assisting walk-ins with their bicycles. They'll still be taking bike donations, but again this is at the discretion of the coordinator since secure storage space is so limited. The new weekly schedule has been posted, so if any of y'all are in the area on Friday nights from 6-9pm, stop by and say hey because I'll be doing my apprentice coordinator thing at the time.

One interesting snippet I overheard which I'm not sure is going to pan out or not, but it sounds like the Yellow Bike crew may actually be getting a 3000sqft slab poured FOR FREE! Two years back a lady who works with a construction company that pours free slabs for churches offered their service to one of the coordinators, and it sounds like they're going to be giving her a ring and seeing if the offer still stands. Lets all hope so, as this would probably help them save a whole wad of cash that could be put to other uses. Nice.

Beyond that there was discussion about how to best store sale bikes in the interim between having a large headquarter building, as well as regarding their various efforts in partnering with other organizations to facilitate bike repair classes, demonstrations, and tool lending. These meetings are open to the public and happen on the first Tuesday of every month, and if any of you are at all interested in seeing how these guys work, or are even just curious about the ins and outs of the local Austin cycling scene, I urge you to show up and attend one of these meetings. I'll definitely be going back next month.