Yellow Bike News for May 2012
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May 3, 2012, 4:12:15 AM5/3/12
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May 2012 Yellow Bike Newsletter
Social justice. It’s not always a theme that gets a lot of lip service in the world of cycling advocacy. Going green and getting fit are things we hear about all the time, yet even when we delve into the nitty-gritty of infrastructure policy and traffic legalities, broader ideas of social justice often go unmentioned. In a culture where transit is dominated by the personal automobile, considering roadways as public space is often marginalized as radicalism or heresy. Yet roads are bought, planned, built, and maintained as publicly as sidewalks and parks, and the primacy of cars is as much a result of political processes as are zoning restrictions or school and library budgets. Similarly, the laws that govern our rights and responsibilities as pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers were not handed down in stone - they are a result of the prevailing power and the will of its counterpoint within our democratic system. Today, we tend to treat automobile-related fatalities, the number one cause of accidental death in our nation, as an inevitable fact of life, but less than a century ago, a car killing a person was seen as a profound and unacceptable tragedy, and this social value reflected itself within the justice system.
The bicycle’s role as an instrument of social justice is profound. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, roadways outside of the city center existed primarily for horses and buggies, costly items to own and maintain. With the 1880’s came the safety bicycle, the pneumatic tire, and industrialized bicycle manufacturing, and both bikes and roads became resources available to people across all class lines. For a brief moment in American history, bicycles levelled the playing field of transportation. (Quite literally - the smooth, paved roads without steep grades that automobiles take for granted were first developed for bicycles.) All of this meant even more than allowing an unprecedented and egalitarian freedom of motion, though. The women’s movement sprinted forward on two wheels, demolishing myths of athletic inferiority and tossing aside the physically oppressive clothing of the Victorian era. Meanwhile, with cycling the most popular pastime in the land, an unfailingly courageous and indomitably fast man named Major Taylor smashed through the color barrier of sports, winning his first professional track race by over a hundred feet in front of 5,000 spectators in 1896, a decade before Jack Johnson became the heavyweight champion of the world and fifty years before Jackie Robinson took the field as a Dodger.
As we devote the month of May to celebrating the bicycle, increasing access to the joy of riding, mourning those who will never ride again, and spinning those pedals at every chance we get, let’s make a point of remembering all of the reasons why this machine means so much to us. The center of its engine, after all, is in the center of our chests.
EVENTS
Pedaling for Safer Roads - The Austin cycling community is shocked and saddened by the recent death of cyclist Verter Ginestra, killed on 360 and Westlake on Saturday, April 28, and the serious injuries to cyclist Evan Baird caused by a hit and run collision on Monday, April 23 near Guadalupe and 38th. Please join your fellow cyclists on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012, 7 pm at City Hall to ride in memorial, and for justice. Thursday’s gathering will be a chance to send a message to lawmakers to create better infrastructure for cyclists, to implement comprehensive safety awareness and education among drivers, and to create and enforce laws protecting cyclists. Saturday’s fatal crash and Monday’s hit and run mark two serious cycling tragedies in Austin in less than a week, but are just a snapshot - there have been three cycling deaths so far in this year alone, and many more injured. Thursday’s ride is organized by Please Be Kind to Cyclists; for more information or to spread the word, please visit their Facebook event page.
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. Yellow Bike coordinators will be on hand slinging patch kits and showing you how to make your very own DIY panniers. BikeTexas will be wranglin’ the kids up for a a bike rodeo tournament, while Bicycle Sport Shop will have your parking and tune-up needs covered. APD will be registering bikes and and providing anti-theft tips, Austin Cycling Association will be distributing free helmets for kids, and the OG Flatland Stunt Team will be blowing minds young and old with their two-wheeled tricks. On top of all that, there’ll be free City of Austin bike maps, free Bike-In Book Swap tote bags, and free copies of the book Wheels of Change up for grabs. Lots of books and lots of bikes, it really doesn’t get much better than that!
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.
Bike to Work Day - While we strive to make every day Bike to Work Day, Friday, May 18 is the special day that comes but once a year, when breakfast stations will be set up all over town to fuel your morning commute. Already a seasoned cyclocommuter? Reap your rewards! Thinking about commuting on two wheels, or know someone who is? There’ll be a carrot (er, breakfast taco) dangling just for you. Stations to be announced soon - keep an eye on ACA's website for the details.
She: Bike/Spoke/Love - She: Bike/Spoke/Love, a theatrical production celebrating the bicycle as a tool of daily transport and self-reliance and the cyclist as an empowered activist and cultural rebel, is coming to Austin for three performances at the Mexican American Cultural Center. Head down to 600 River St. on Friday, May 18, 7pm, or Saturday, May 19, 2pm or 7pm to witness poetry, spoken word, videos, turntables, and bicycles collide in multimedia monument to Machina Humana.
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, 7pm to celebrate the milestone. There’ll be music from our brassy buddies Minor Mishap Marching Band, our second annual Austin Bike Zoo cargo bike raffle, the greasy-geared gospel of the YBP Bike Choir, plus tasty truck tacos for sale alongside horchata and ice cold cerveza for your Quinceañera refreshment. YBP has flourished for fifteen years because of the all the hard work and love devoted to it by people like you, so we hope you can come join us in celebrating all that we’ve accomplished together!
VIVA STREETS! Austin - Although we haven’t even put candles on a cake 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, and strollers; for 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. Click here for more information - we can hardly wait!
REI and Wheatsville Bike Drives - Got an old ride collecting rust in the garage, but can’t make it out to Webberville to pass it on? Two fine cooperative retailers with convenient central locations are offering the chance this month to let YBP take it off your hands. Stop by REI on 6th & Lamar on Saturday, May 26 (time TBA) or Wheatsville Co-op on Sunday, May 27, 10am-4pm to donate your previously-loved bicycles. We’re especially encouraging donations of kids’ bikes and adolescent-sized 24”-wheeled bikes as we’ll be devoting our volunteer efforts over the next month and a half to fixing them up for the Juneteenth Parade - more on that below.
COMMUNITY/ADVOCACY
Juneteenth Celebration - Juneteenth, also known as “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day,” is a holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in Texas. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, African Americans in Texas were not aware of the proclamation until US General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865. The annual Juneteenth Celebration and Parade have since become a staple of East Austin history and culture. This year, YBP is thrilled to be partnering with the Major Taylor Club of Austin to incorporate cycling into the parade. MTC has been working with area schools and organizations to promote cycling among youth, and the enthusiastic response has led them to organize a kids’ bike ride as part of the parade. However, many neighborhood youths and their families cannot afford to purchase new bicycles. YBP is partnering with MTC throughout May and June to repair and donate as many bicycles as we can and ensure that every child who wishes to ride in the parade has the opportunity. We can’t do it without your help. Come volunteer at the shop to help us get bikes fixed up, or donate that outgrown ride in your garage, and help some young cyclists create a new Juneteenth tradition.
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, or donate a dollar or more at the register and receive a YBP sticker as a gift. 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 April 30 through May 8 (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. For more information, contact Travis County at 512-238-VOTE.
SHOP NEWS
Volunteer-Only Shops - Head out to our Webberville HQ on Tuesdays, 6:30-10pm and 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. For the next month and a half, we’ll be focusing our volunteer efforts on fixing up kids’ bikes for the Juneteenth Parade. Volunteers are always encouraged to attend our Open Shops, as well - there’s never any shortage of work to do around here!
Grounds Work Party - With our 15th Birthday Party right around the corner, we’d like to get our yard lookin’ its best. Come join us on Sunday, May 6, 1pm-3pm for a Grounds Work Party to get things neat’n’clean.
Community Garden Google Group - Community gardening’s about more than just planting and harvesting. It offers an opportunity for people to come together, share their knowledge and ideas, and get down to the roots of our most common experience - food! In an effort to bolster the “community” in YBP’s community garden, we’ve started a Google Group for anyone interested in the development of our garden space. Whether you simply want to stay abreast of dates for our Garden Work Parties or are interested in the big vision of operating a community garden alongside a community bike shop, click here with your green thumb and request to join the discussion!
Big Wheel Keeps on Turning: Hubs 101 - By popular demand, this month we’ll be offering what we hope will become one of many “formal” classes at YBP. Big Wheel Keeps on Turning: Hubs 101 is a hands-on introduction to the heart of the bicycle wheel. This is a free class, open to people of all skill levels - no mechanical experience required. A great chance to learn about one of the most fundamental components of the bike outside of the hustle-bustle of our open shops - plus, successfully overhauled hubs will count towards your Earn-a-Bike checklist! Enrollment is limited to 12 students, and is on a first-come, first-served basis; to sign up, click here.
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 - Bicycle frame material is an oft-debated subject, ed, mired deeply enough in mythology and marketing that it’s become nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. What’s real about steel? Is aluminum really lighter? What’s so scary about carbon fiber? Metallurgy for Cyclists is a series of articles serving as an excellent primer for the layperson on the science of framebuilding materials. Get the facts!
Shop Schedule – (Updated for May)
YBP's shop schedule is set the first Tuesday of every month at our Collective meeting. Schedule below continues through Monday, June 4.
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."
Social justice. It’s not always a theme that gets a lot of lip service in the world of cycling advocacy. Going green and getting fit are things we hear about all the time, yet even when we delve into the nitty-gritty of infrastructure policy and traffic legalities, broader ideas of social justice often go unmentioned. In a culture where transit is dominated by the personal automobile, considering roadways as public space is often marginalized as radicalism or heresy. Yet roads are bought, planned, built, and maintained as publicly as sidewalks and parks, and the primacy of cars is as much a result of political processes as are zoning restrictions or school and library budgets. Similarly, the laws that govern our rights and responsibilities as pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers were not handed down in stone - they are a result of the prevailing power and the will of its counterpoint within our democratic system. Today, we tend to treat automobile-related fatalities, the number one cause of accidental death in our nation, as an inevitable fact of life, but less than a century ago, a car killing a person was seen as a profound and unacceptable tragedy, and this social value reflected itself within the justice system.
The bicycle’s role as an instrument of social justice is profound. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, roadways outside of the city center existed primarily for horses and buggies, costly items to own and maintain. With the 1880’s came the safety bicycle, the pneumatic tire, and industrialized bicycle manufacturing, and both bikes and roads became resources available to people across all class lines. For a brief moment in American history, bicycles levelled the playing field of transportation. (Quite literally - the smooth, paved roads without steep grades that automobiles take for granted were first developed for bicycles.) All of this meant even more than allowing an unprecedented and egalitarian freedom of motion, though. The women’s movement sprinted forward on two wheels, demolishing myths of athletic inferiority and tossing aside the physically oppressive clothing of the Victorian era. Meanwhile, with cycling the most popular pastime in the land, an unfailingly courageous and indomitably fast man named Major Taylor smashed through the color barrier of sports, winning his first professional track race by over a hundred feet in front of 5,000 spectators in 1896, a decade before Jack Johnson became the heavyweight champion of the world and fifty years before Jackie Robinson took the field as a Dodger.
As we devote the month of May to celebrating the bicycle, increasing access to the joy of riding, mourning those who will never ride again, and spinning those pedals at every chance we get, let’s make a point of remembering all of the reasons why this machine means so much to us. The center of its engine, after all, is in the center of our chests.
EVENTS
Pedaling for Safer Roads - The Austin cycling community is shocked and saddened by the recent death of cyclist Verter Ginestra, killed on 360 and Westlake on Saturday, April 28, and the serious injuries to cyclist Evan Baird caused by a hit and run collision on Monday, April 23 near Guadalupe and 38th. Please join your fellow cyclists on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012, 7 pm at City Hall to ride in memorial, and for justice. Thursday’s gathering will be a chance to send a message to lawmakers to create better infrastructure for cyclists, to implement comprehensive safety awareness and education among drivers, and to create and enforce laws protecting cyclists. Saturday’s fatal crash and Monday’s hit and run mark two serious cycling tragedies in Austin in less than a week, but are just a snapshot - there have been three cycling deaths so far in this year alone, and many more injured. Thursday’s ride is organized by Please Be Kind to Cyclists; for more information or to spread the word, please visit their Facebook event page.
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. Yellow Bike coordinators will be on hand slinging patch kits and showing you how to make your very own DIY panniers. BikeTexas will be wranglin’ the kids up for a a bike rodeo tournament, while Bicycle Sport Shop will have your parking and tune-up needs covered. APD will be registering bikes and and providing anti-theft tips, Austin Cycling Association will be distributing free helmets for kids, and the OG Flatland Stunt Team will be blowing minds young and old with their two-wheeled tricks. On top of all that, there’ll be free City of Austin bike maps, free Bike-In Book Swap tote bags, and free copies of the book Wheels of Change up for grabs. Lots of books and lots of bikes, it really doesn’t get much better than that!
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.
Bike to Work Day - While we strive to make every day Bike to Work Day, Friday, May 18 is the special day that comes but once a year, when breakfast stations will be set up all over town to fuel your morning commute. Already a seasoned cyclocommuter? Reap your rewards! Thinking about commuting on two wheels, or know someone who is? There’ll be a carrot (er, breakfast taco) dangling just for you. Stations to be announced soon - keep an eye on ACA's website for the details.
She: Bike/Spoke/Love - She: Bike/Spoke/Love, a theatrical production celebrating the bicycle as a tool of daily transport and self-reliance and the cyclist as an empowered activist and cultural rebel, is coming to Austin for three performances at the Mexican American Cultural Center. Head down to 600 River St. on Friday, May 18, 7pm, or Saturday, May 19, 2pm or 7pm to witness poetry, spoken word, videos, turntables, and bicycles collide in multimedia monument to Machina Humana.
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, 7pm to celebrate the milestone. There’ll be music from our brassy buddies Minor Mishap Marching Band, our second annual Austin Bike Zoo cargo bike raffle, the greasy-geared gospel of the YBP Bike Choir, plus tasty truck tacos for sale alongside horchata and ice cold cerveza for your Quinceañera refreshment. YBP has flourished for fifteen years because of the all the hard work and love devoted to it by people like you, so we hope you can come join us in celebrating all that we’ve accomplished together!
VIVA STREETS! Austin - Although we haven’t even put candles on a cake 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, and strollers; for 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. Click here for more information - we can hardly wait!
REI and Wheatsville Bike Drives - Got an old ride collecting rust in the garage, but can’t make it out to Webberville to pass it on? Two fine cooperative retailers with convenient central locations are offering the chance this month to let YBP take it off your hands. Stop by REI on 6th & Lamar on Saturday, May 26 (time TBA) or Wheatsville Co-op on Sunday, May 27, 10am-4pm to donate your previously-loved bicycles. We’re especially encouraging donations of kids’ bikes and adolescent-sized 24”-wheeled bikes as we’ll be devoting our volunteer efforts over the next month and a half to fixing them up for the Juneteenth Parade - more on that below.
COMMUNITY/ADVOCACY
Juneteenth Celebration - Juneteenth, also known as “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day,” is a holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in Texas. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, African Americans in Texas were not aware of the proclamation until US General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865. The annual Juneteenth Celebration and Parade have since become a staple of East Austin history and culture. This year, YBP is thrilled to be partnering with the Major Taylor Club of Austin to incorporate cycling into the parade. MTC has been working with area schools and organizations to promote cycling among youth, and the enthusiastic response has led them to organize a kids’ bike ride as part of the parade. However, many neighborhood youths and their families cannot afford to purchase new bicycles. YBP is partnering with MTC throughout May and June to repair and donate as many bicycles as we can and ensure that every child who wishes to ride in the parade has the opportunity. We can’t do it without your help. Come volunteer at the shop to help us get bikes fixed up, or donate that outgrown ride in your garage, and help some young cyclists create a new Juneteenth tradition.
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, or donate a dollar or more at the register and receive a YBP sticker as a gift. 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 April 30 through May 8 (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. For more information, contact Travis County at 512-238-VOTE.
SHOP NEWS
Volunteer-Only Shops - Head out to our Webberville HQ on Tuesdays, 6:30-10pm and 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. For the next month and a half, we’ll be focusing our volunteer efforts on fixing up kids’ bikes for the Juneteenth Parade. Volunteers are always encouraged to attend our Open Shops, as well - there’s never any shortage of work to do around here!
Grounds Work Party - With our 15th Birthday Party right around the corner, we’d like to get our yard lookin’ its best. Come join us on Sunday, May 6, 1pm-3pm for a Grounds Work Party to get things neat’n’clean.
Community Garden Google Group - Community gardening’s about more than just planting and harvesting. It offers an opportunity for people to come together, share their knowledge and ideas, and get down to the roots of our most common experience - food! In an effort to bolster the “community” in YBP’s community garden, we’ve started a Google Group for anyone interested in the development of our garden space. Whether you simply want to stay abreast of dates for our Garden Work Parties or are interested in the big vision of operating a community garden alongside a community bike shop, click here with your green thumb and request to join the discussion!
Big Wheel Keeps on Turning: Hubs 101 - By popular demand, this month we’ll be offering what we hope will become one of many “formal” classes at YBP. Big Wheel Keeps on Turning: Hubs 101 is a hands-on introduction to the heart of the bicycle wheel. This is a free class, open to people of all skill levels - no mechanical experience required. A great chance to learn about one of the most fundamental components of the bike outside of the hustle-bustle of our open shops - plus, successfully overhauled hubs will count towards your Earn-a-Bike checklist! Enrollment is limited to 12 students, and is on a first-come, first-served basis; to sign up, click here.
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 - Bicycle frame material is an oft-debated subject, ed, mired deeply enough in mythology and marketing that it’s become nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. What’s real about steel? Is aluminum really lighter? What’s so scary about carbon fiber? Metallurgy for Cyclists is a series of articles serving as an excellent primer for the layperson on the science of framebuilding materials. Get the facts!
Shop Schedule – (Updated for May)
YBP's shop schedule is set the first Tuesday of every month at our Collective meeting. Schedule below continues through Monday, June 4.
| 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 *Volunteer Only Shop 5/29 3pm-6pm Hubs 101 |
5pm-9pm *Open Shop |
6pm-10pm *Volunteer Only Shop |
7pm-10pm *Open Shop |
15th Birthday Party! 5/19 7pm |
Grounds Work Party 5/6 1pm-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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