Yellow Bike News for April 2012
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Apr 12, 2012, 12:29:50 PM4/12/12
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April 2012 Yellow Bike Newsletter
We’d like to start things off this month with one more enormous “thank you!” to all y’all vital volunteers on behalf the organizers of HONK!TX. Thanks to your hard work, we were able to double the amount of loaner bikes provided to HONK! musicians by Yellow Bike. Next time you swing by Webberville, take a moment to spot their unique token of appreciation - what may well be the world’s only tuba-lamp.
In even more good news, now that all the sousaphone-powered fun is behind us, we’ve got ourselves a whole lot of bicycles that are ready to ride. In the market for some new-to-you human-powered transport, lovingly resuscitated by our altruistic wrenches? Now’s the time! Many post-HONK-bikes have already been sold, and with spring fully sprung our sale rack won’t overfloweth for long, so don’t hesitate!
And finally, in case the idyllic vernal environment hadn’t tipped you off, Bike Month is right around the corner. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist who actually observes twelve of those or a novice on two wheels in need of a little inspiration, May means an endless slew of excellent events celebrating la joie de velo, including YBP’s 15th birthday! Keep reading for a sneak peek at what’s in store.
EVENTS
Political Pedal - For the sixteenth year, Political Pedal will provide Austin cyclists with an opportunity ride alongside current city officials and candidates in this year’s upcoming municipal elections. Meet at City Hall (Cesar Chavez & Guadalupe) at 4:45pm on Friday, April 13 to chat with council members, city staff, and other surprise guests as you take leisurely ride to Uncle Billy's Brew & Que for a round of suds to go with your civics and cycling.
Bike and Build Benefit - Bike and Build is an organization that puts a unique hands-on spin on the charitable bike tour. Participants do more than just raise money and awareness for affordable housing as they ride across the country - they also stop along the way and build those houses themselves. YBP volunteer Lizette Ortiz will be one of this year’s ride leaders, charting a course from North Carolina to San Diego, CA, raising roofs along the way. To help send her off right, come on out to a social ride and fundraiser on Tuesday, April 24. The ride leaves at 7pm from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge for a pleasurable cruise towards music, food, drink, raffles, and more at the Scoot Inn (E. 4th & Navasota) beginning at 8pm. Missing the festivities, but want to lend Lizette a hand? You can also donate online by clicking here.
Bike-In Book Swap - YBP is excited to once again be part of the Austin Public Library’s annual Bike-In Book Swap. Toss those old tomes in your basket and ride on down to Twin Oaks Branch (S. 5th & Mary) on Saturday, May 5, noon-3pm. Along with some friendly coordinators and patch kits, expect fun along the lines of a kids’ bike rodeo sponsored by BikeTexas, free tune-ups care of Bicycle Sport Shop, mindblowing flatland tricks, and of course, lots and lots of literature!
Armadillo Hill Country Classic - Austin Cycling Association's biggest ride of the year, the Armadillo Hill Country Classic, takes place for the 19th time on Saturday, May 12. Offering seven courses ranging from 14 to 105 miles across some of the most scenic terrain in Texas, the AHCC is also ACA’s major annual fundraiser. If you’re a Central Texas cyclist, that means a lot - for more than 24 years, ACA has been fighting to make our rides better. Through activities as diverse as licensed cycling instruction, group ride organization, and helmet and light giveaways, ACA works hard to get people on bikes, which makes for a great reason to get on yours in May.
The Yellow Bike Project Turns 15! - Can you believe it’s been fifteen years since the first fleet of Yellow Bikes was released into the wild for all to ride? We’ve come an awful long way from painting Huffys in backyards to the truly amazing community bike shop we now call home, and you’re invited to join us at Webberville on Saturday, May 19 to celebrate the milestone. Lots of exciting details are coming soon, but for now, we hope the promise of great music, fun activities, food, drink, another cargo bike raffle, and a high likelihood of coordinators in Quinceañera dresses is more than enough reason to mark your calendars.
VIVA STREETS! Austin - Even though there’s not even a cake to put candles on yet, we already know our wildest birthday wish will be coming true on Sunday, May 20, 10am-3pm as VIVA STREETS! turns one of Austin’s main drags into an automobile-free zone. Modeled on the Colombian Ciclovía, VIVA STREETS! is an opportunity to re-imagine Sixth Street as a place designed for cyclists, pedestrians, skaters, strollers, soccer, sitting, slacking, playing, and participating. For five hours, East Sixth from Brazos to Robert Martinez will be our community playground, and we couldn’t be more excited.
COMMUNITY/ADVOCACY
Wheatsville Community Action Wednesdays - Each month Wheatsville Co-op donates a percentage of Wednesday sales to local organizations chosen by the consumer cooperative’s owners. In another Bike Month tradition, YBP is once again Wheatsville’s Community Action Wednesday recipient for the month of May. Stop in for a midweek grocery run or two to donate to YBP without spending an extra dime. Wednesdays throughout the year benefit lots of other really awesome groups like Ecology Action, SafePlace, People's Community Clinic, Out Youth, and Sustainable Food Center, and we’re honored that voters in the co-op’s election once again chose us as well.
Local Elections - While we at YBP can’t and wouldn’t want to tell you how to vote, we are a civic-minded bunch, and would like to remind you that Austin and Travis County elections take place this year on May 12, with early voting beginning on April 30 (don’t forget, early voters can go to any polling location - super-easy and rarely a line in sight). As a consensus organization, we understand why electoral politics can be off-putting in many ways, but your vote really does matter in city and county elections. Along with hosting a recent candidates forum and announcing their own endorsements, the League of Bicycling Voters has published an in-depth survey of mayoral and council incumbents and hopefuls.
Urban Forest Survey - The City of Austin Urban Forestry Program is conducting a survey to better serve citizens in their stewardship of our town’s trees. Branches and leaves that provide riders with some much-needed summer shade are just one tiny part of the benefits we reap from our urban forest, so take a moment to respond on behalf of your wooden friends.
SHOP NEWS
Volunteer-Only Shops - Head out to our Webberville HQ on Thursdays, 6-10pm for another awesome month of Volunteer-Only Shops. Whether you're coming in to earn a bike, complete community service hours, or simply learn more about our favorite machines while helping to make some work again, Volunteer-Only Shops are the special spot just for you. Volunteers are always encouraged to attend our Open Shops, as well - there’s never any shortage of work to do around here!
Garden Work Party - Come see what YBP’s got growing on Saturday, April 14, 2:30-7pm, Sunday, April 22, 11am-3pm, and Saturday, April 28, noon-4pm at our Garden Work Parties. Whether your fingernails are already full of soil or you don’t recognize food until after its been picked, you’re invited to lend a hand, learn a thing or two about growing organic fruits and veggies in Central Texas, and enjoy a share of the spoils. On Saturday April 28, Webberville HQ will also be a stop on the 3rd Annual Austin Community Gardening Tour, so you can get down and dirty helping us plant shade vines, or just pop in for a visit while you’re checking out all the growings-on about town. Where else in Austin can you learn how to maintain your own vehicle and produce your own fuel?
Easy Ways to Help Improve the Shop - Want to help make YBP the best community bike shop it can be? Take a few minutes at each shop to help us keep it in ship-shape. Wiping down workstands and sweeping floors is quick and easy if everyone pitches in, and makes for a much better place to fix stuff up in. Sorting small parts and components not only makes them easier for everybody to find, but will introduce you to lots of little bits you may have never noticed keeping your ride in one piece. Just think, if everybody leaves the shop better than they find it, we'll always have the best shop we've ever had!
Public Input at Collective Meetings - Collective Meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at our Webberville headquarters from 7-9pm. Open to the public, they're a great place to learn how YBP and consensus decision making work. To members of the general populous with requests, offers, or comments for the collective, please be aware that the Public Input portion of our meeting is at 8pm. You may stay for as much or as little of the meeting as you like. Our agendas tend to be pretty jam-packed, so please come prepared with a well-defined proposal - public input is limited to five minutes per item.
Mechanical Link of the Month - Do-it-yourself mechanics in the modern age are blessed with the enormous amounts of information available online. For an inaugural Mechanical Link of the Month, we invite you to pay a visit to one of the best places on the whole internet to start learning about bikes. Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary is an indispensable resource, whether you’re starting off at Anatomy 101 or you’re a certified cyclo-surgeon. Get to know your U-brake from your Uniglide, find out what all those wacky acronyms stand for, and follow the hyperlinks deeper into Saint Sheldon’s endless encyclopedia of free bicycle knowledge. http://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html
Shop Schedule – (Updated for April)
YBP's shop schedule is set the first Tuesday of every month at our Collective meeting. Schedule below continues through Monday, April 30.
Austin's Yellow Bike Project | 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."
We’d like to start things off this month with one more enormous “thank you!” to all y’all vital volunteers on behalf the organizers of HONK!TX. Thanks to your hard work, we were able to double the amount of loaner bikes provided to HONK! musicians by Yellow Bike. Next time you swing by Webberville, take a moment to spot their unique token of appreciation - what may well be the world’s only tuba-lamp.
In even more good news, now that all the sousaphone-powered fun is behind us, we’ve got ourselves a whole lot of bicycles that are ready to ride. In the market for some new-to-you human-powered transport, lovingly resuscitated by our altruistic wrenches? Now’s the time! Many post-HONK-bikes have already been sold, and with spring fully sprung our sale rack won’t overfloweth for long, so don’t hesitate!
And finally, in case the idyllic vernal environment hadn’t tipped you off, Bike Month is right around the corner. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist who actually observes twelve of those or a novice on two wheels in need of a little inspiration, May means an endless slew of excellent events celebrating la joie de velo, including YBP’s 15th birthday! Keep reading for a sneak peek at what’s in store.
EVENTS
Political Pedal - For the sixteenth year, Political Pedal will provide Austin cyclists with an opportunity ride alongside current city officials and candidates in this year’s upcoming municipal elections. Meet at City Hall (Cesar Chavez & Guadalupe) at 4:45pm on Friday, April 13 to chat with council members, city staff, and other surprise guests as you take leisurely ride to Uncle Billy's Brew & Que for a round of suds to go with your civics and cycling.
Bike and Build Benefit - Bike and Build is an organization that puts a unique hands-on spin on the charitable bike tour. Participants do more than just raise money and awareness for affordable housing as they ride across the country - they also stop along the way and build those houses themselves. YBP volunteer Lizette Ortiz will be one of this year’s ride leaders, charting a course from North Carolina to San Diego, CA, raising roofs along the way. To help send her off right, come on out to a social ride and fundraiser on Tuesday, April 24. The ride leaves at 7pm from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge for a pleasurable cruise towards music, food, drink, raffles, and more at the Scoot Inn (E. 4th & Navasota) beginning at 8pm. Missing the festivities, but want to lend Lizette a hand? You can also donate online by clicking here.
Bike-In Book Swap - YBP is excited to once again be part of the Austin Public Library’s annual Bike-In Book Swap. Toss those old tomes in your basket and ride on down to Twin Oaks Branch (S. 5th & Mary) on Saturday, May 5, noon-3pm. Along with some friendly coordinators and patch kits, expect fun along the lines of a kids’ bike rodeo sponsored by BikeTexas, free tune-ups care of Bicycle Sport Shop, mindblowing flatland tricks, and of course, lots and lots of literature!
Armadillo Hill Country Classic - Austin Cycling Association's biggest ride of the year, the Armadillo Hill Country Classic, takes place for the 19th time on Saturday, May 12. Offering seven courses ranging from 14 to 105 miles across some of the most scenic terrain in Texas, the AHCC is also ACA’s major annual fundraiser. If you’re a Central Texas cyclist, that means a lot - for more than 24 years, ACA has been fighting to make our rides better. Through activities as diverse as licensed cycling instruction, group ride organization, and helmet and light giveaways, ACA works hard to get people on bikes, which makes for a great reason to get on yours in May.
The Yellow Bike Project Turns 15! - Can you believe it’s been fifteen years since the first fleet of Yellow Bikes was released into the wild for all to ride? We’ve come an awful long way from painting Huffys in backyards to the truly amazing community bike shop we now call home, and you’re invited to join us at Webberville on Saturday, May 19 to celebrate the milestone. Lots of exciting details are coming soon, but for now, we hope the promise of great music, fun activities, food, drink, another cargo bike raffle, and a high likelihood of coordinators in Quinceañera dresses is more than enough reason to mark your calendars.
VIVA STREETS! Austin - Even though there’s not even a cake to put candles on yet, we already know our wildest birthday wish will be coming true on Sunday, May 20, 10am-3pm as VIVA STREETS! turns one of Austin’s main drags into an automobile-free zone. Modeled on the Colombian Ciclovía, VIVA STREETS! is an opportunity to re-imagine Sixth Street as a place designed for cyclists, pedestrians, skaters, strollers, soccer, sitting, slacking, playing, and participating. For five hours, East Sixth from Brazos to Robert Martinez will be our community playground, and we couldn’t be more excited.
COMMUNITY/ADVOCACY
Wheatsville Community Action Wednesdays - Each month Wheatsville Co-op donates a percentage of Wednesday sales to local organizations chosen by the consumer cooperative’s owners. In another Bike Month tradition, YBP is once again Wheatsville’s Community Action Wednesday recipient for the month of May. Stop in for a midweek grocery run or two to donate to YBP without spending an extra dime. Wednesdays throughout the year benefit lots of other really awesome groups like Ecology Action, SafePlace, People's Community Clinic, Out Youth, and Sustainable Food Center, and we’re honored that voters in the co-op’s election once again chose us as well.
Local Elections - While we at YBP can’t and wouldn’t want to tell you how to vote, we are a civic-minded bunch, and would like to remind you that Austin and Travis County elections take place this year on May 12, with early voting beginning on April 30 (don’t forget, early voters can go to any polling location - super-easy and rarely a line in sight). As a consensus organization, we understand why electoral politics can be off-putting in many ways, but your vote really does matter in city and county elections. Along with hosting a recent candidates forum and announcing their own endorsements, the League of Bicycling Voters has published an in-depth survey of mayoral and council incumbents and hopefuls.
Urban Forest Survey - The City of Austin Urban Forestry Program is conducting a survey to better serve citizens in their stewardship of our town’s trees. Branches and leaves that provide riders with some much-needed summer shade are just one tiny part of the benefits we reap from our urban forest, so take a moment to respond on behalf of your wooden friends.
SHOP NEWS
Volunteer-Only Shops - Head out to our Webberville HQ on Thursdays, 6-10pm for another awesome month of Volunteer-Only Shops. Whether you're coming in to earn a bike, complete community service hours, or simply learn more about our favorite machines while helping to make some work again, Volunteer-Only Shops are the special spot just for you. Volunteers are always encouraged to attend our Open Shops, as well - there’s never any shortage of work to do around here!
Garden Work Party - Come see what YBP’s got growing on Saturday, April 14, 2:30-7pm, Sunday, April 22, 11am-3pm, and Saturday, April 28, noon-4pm at our Garden Work Parties. Whether your fingernails are already full of soil or you don’t recognize food until after its been picked, you’re invited to lend a hand, learn a thing or two about growing organic fruits and veggies in Central Texas, and enjoy a share of the spoils. On Saturday April 28, Webberville HQ will also be a stop on the 3rd Annual Austin Community Gardening Tour, so you can get down and dirty helping us plant shade vines, or just pop in for a visit while you’re checking out all the growings-on about town. Where else in Austin can you learn how to maintain your own vehicle and produce your own fuel?
Easy Ways to Help Improve the Shop - Want to help make YBP the best community bike shop it can be? Take a few minutes at each shop to help us keep it in ship-shape. Wiping down workstands and sweeping floors is quick and easy if everyone pitches in, and makes for a much better place to fix stuff up in. Sorting small parts and components not only makes them easier for everybody to find, but will introduce you to lots of little bits you may have never noticed keeping your ride in one piece. Just think, if everybody leaves the shop better than they find it, we'll always have the best shop we've ever had!
Public Input at Collective Meetings - Collective Meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at our Webberville headquarters from 7-9pm. Open to the public, they're a great place to learn how YBP and consensus decision making work. To members of the general populous with requests, offers, or comments for the collective, please be aware that the Public Input portion of our meeting is at 8pm. You may stay for as much or as little of the meeting as you like. Our agendas tend to be pretty jam-packed, so please come prepared with a well-defined proposal - public input is limited to five minutes per item.
Mechanical Link of the Month - Do-it-yourself mechanics in the modern age are blessed with the enormous amounts of information available online. For an inaugural Mechanical Link of the Month, we invite you to pay a visit to one of the best places on the whole internet to start learning about bikes. Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary is an indispensable resource, whether you’re starting off at Anatomy 101 or you’re a certified cyclo-surgeon. Get to know your U-brake from your Uniglide, find out what all those wacky acronyms stand for, and follow the hyperlinks deeper into Saint Sheldon’s endless encyclopedia of free bicycle knowledge. http://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html
Shop Schedule – (Updated for April)
YBP's shop schedule is set the first Tuesday of every month at our Collective meeting. Schedule below continues through Monday, April 30.
| Yellow Bike Shop | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Webberville Shop 1216 Webberville Rd. |
9am-12pm *Open Shop 5pm-9pm *Open Shop |
6:30pm-10pm *Open Shop |
Closed | 6pm-10pm *Volunteer Only Shop |
7pm-10pm *Open Shop |
Garden Work Party 4/14 2:30pm-7pm 4/28 Noon-4pm |
Garden Work Party 4/22 11am-3pm |
| Yellow Bike Monthly Collective Meeting at the Webberville Shop 1216 Webberville Rd. |
*Collective Meetings 7pm 1st Tuesday |
Austin's Yellow Bike Project | 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."
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