FrankenBike Austin # 62: September 25, 2010, 10am-4pm

Bike Pals,In case you haven’t caught it yet, we updated our website a couple weeks ago.  With the simpler new format, we’ll soon have more updates, keeping the site fresh with exciting stuff for you to see and do.

In the meantime, we’ve got tons of exciting stuff to read about below:

-Katrillions of real good feel-good volunteer gigs in Events, Get Involved, Shop News
-A VERY important public input opportunity down in Get Involved
-Bikey events out the wazoo.

Enjoy!

TxDOT Bike Survey – Complicating the ongoing push to bikify Austin streets, many of our major roads are under the planning jurisdiction of the State’s, not the City’s, Department of Transportation. We’re not just talking about highways, here. Airport Blvd. is one great example of a very useful street which can’t receive bike infrastructure improvements without TxDOT’s support.  Fortunately, TxDOT is taking an interest in you and your bike. They’ve recently put out a survey to collect feedback on which of their Austin roads you use, or wish that you could. FILL IT OUT, fer heck’s sake!

Do it for THE CHILDREN! – Austin’s Safe Routes to School program is still seeking new members for its Bike Subcommittee, which meets each month immediately after the general coalition meeting, and works to organize bike clubs, activities, and educational efforts. September’s SRTS coalition meeting is 9:00 am Tuesday the 28th, at Palm Elementary, with the Bike Subcommittee meeting at 10:00 am. You can contact Doug Bellew (972-5120) or Kristi Stillwell (972-6209) for more info.

You probably agree that Austin becomes a better place as more adults take up biking for some or all of their travel needs, and you probably understand that bike transportation is a tough sell in this fast-paced passenger world. Many people think biking is too slow, dangerous, and physically rigorous to be a realistic mode of travel. But, counterarguments aside, just imagine how much tougher it would be if most of today’s adults hadn’t already learned how to ride when they were younger!  That’s the dystopian nightmare future for bike proponents like us, and we can’t let it become a reality. Also, riding bikes with kids is REALLY dang fun.

That said, here are some great projects you can get into with SRTS, whether or not you can attend those meetings:

– Find, fund, or design some bike racks for a local school! Believe it or not, some Austin schools are completely lacking bike racks. That just ain’t right! Fortunately, though, a self-starting out-of-the-box thinker like yourself sees infinite solutions to the problem. You might build some yourself out of funky re-purposed materials. You might organize a fun ride, show, bike-in movie, or straight up keg party to raise funds and purchase racks. You might know someone who can build racks or procure them for cheap. You might just donate some cash and let SRTS handle the details.

– Teach and lead a school bike club! You get to do some teaching, and you get to do some riding…with kids!  Doesn’t get any funner than that.

– Accompany a morning Bike Train! Bike Trains are too cool for school, but they go anyhow. If Eddie Merckxx, Ben Franklin, and a non-threatening version of the Pied Piper made a baby, it still wouldn’t be half as cool as you are, rising with the sun to draft some baby organic Floyd Landises all the way to the homeroom. For more Bike Train-spiration, watch these Orlando high schoolers who organized their own.

If you can help out in any of these ways, contact Kristi or Doug (972-6209, 972-5120 respectively) to get more details.


SHOP NEWS

Community garden workday – It’s time for fall planting at the little organic mini-farm out back of the shop, and we want your help!  There will be a garden workday at 9am on September 25th where we’ll be pulling out summer crops, weeding, and preparing the soil.  We have a limited supply of tools, if you don’t have your own, but by all means bring um if you got ’em.  There are eight 3×20′ plots to be assigned to individuals, and eight 3×20′ community plots that you can chip into and work a little to earn a fresh harvest.  If you’d like to have your own individual plot or want other garden info, send an email to austinyellowbike@gmail.com and ask to have your message forwarded to the garden coordinator.  The first eight people to request an individual plot will be assigned one as they’re made available.

Volunteer Nights Are Back! – Yellow Bikes don’t build themselves, and regular shops are so busy we decided to bring back the volunteer-only shop night. This month on Thursdays we’ll focus on building up Yellow Bikes for a Fall release on November 13th. We’ve teamed up with local artist Bridget Quinn and her Payphone Revival Project, and our release of Yellow Bikes will coincide with the project’s opening. In addition to constructing Yellow Bikes, we’ll also try to work on our backlog of kids bikes, to help our Education Coordinators with their bike rodeos and school donations. So come by on a Thursday and give some time to help YBP contribute to the community in more ways!

ASL Shops – Thanks to new apprentice coordinator Crow, Friday shops this month are ASL-friendly. Come and get your sign on while you get your wrench on – YES!

Break-in Break Down – A couple of months ago, we heard from some shop users and volunteers who’d had their cars burglarized while parked near the shop. We were very sorry to hear this, except that it gives you one more great reason to bike out to the shop and take advantage of our plentiful and secure bike parking. Please do! Austin also has a wonderful and sadly under-used bus system, which gets you from one point to another quickly, for cheap, and with very little effort. The #6 stops right out front of the shop. If you absolutely must drive over, lock it up good and hide/remove any theft-worthy items. PLEASE don’t park in the bike lane, and feel free to give a friendly reminder if you see someone else doing it. Thanks!

Earn-a-Bike on Hold – Two months into this popular program’s new life, Earn-a-Bike is taking a short hiatus while we evaluate progress and beef up our record keeping. If you’re already participating, don’t worry; we’re just not taking new participants for a minute. Check back after the first Tuesday in October to see if there are any spots available.

All Ages Shops – Note that Monday’s PM shop is open to unaccompanied children. We encourage anyone who’s interested to come and give us a hand with the extra supervision that this requires. You don’t need any bike knowledge to assist with the goobers – supervisory help is much appreciated, and you can learn wrenching skills right along with them.

Bikes for Sale! – If you need to get your butt in the saddle, and can’t wait to start Earn-a-Bike, come by and check out the selection of pre-furbished bikes for sale.  They’re ready to roll, priced to sell, and your dollars help YBP to keep the shop running and pay back the generous lendors that made the new shop happen (thanks, ya’ll!).