Cruise ‘n’ Tunes

Hop on the bike and start your weekend off with cadence and rhythm. Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and Research Park are hosting another “Outside at the Park” concert event this Friday, August 13th. The music begins at 6:15 pm, but be sure to get there early for an opportunity to tour the Gable Home, the University’s solar home design which took 2nd place in last year’s solar decathlon. In addition, several local and area businesses will be set up at the park to demonstrate and explain some of their own green initiatives and programs. Admission is free, and Houlihans will have food and beverages available for purchase as well.

For more information, check out the event details on Krannert’s website, and bike your way to the start of a relaxing happy hour in the park this Friday night.

you and yourn loves bikes

 (...friends of The Bike Project You and Yourn...)

photo credit: Cody Bralts/youandyourn.com

... and they're playing today, for free, at the Krannert Center's "Uncorked" series.  Show starts at 5pm.

next wednesday: bicycle infrastructure webinar

From an email to the Champaign County Bikes discussion listserv:

On Wednesday, July 21 at 2pm CT, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) will present a webinar on Bicycle Boulevards and Neighborhood Greenways. Morgan Johnston of Facilities and Services at the University of Illinois has graciously arranged for access to the webinar in the conference room of Public Safety Building on campus at 1110 W. Springfield Ave in Urbana (NE corner of Goodwin and Springfield). The webinar is free and open to all that are interested.

I have used bicycle boulevards in Portland and Berkeley and I believe that they would make a great addition to the bicycle infrastructure we have already started to build in Champaign-Urbana. They are particularly attractive to people who do not want to bicycle on busier streets and they allow side-by-side bicycling that is so useful for families bicycling an essential for introducing young bicyclists to on-street bicycling.

saturday: health and wellness bike ride

This Saturday, 17 July, join other families in Urbana on the Health and Wellness Bike Ride, organized by Champaign County Bikes. 

It's a self-paced, self-guided tour of Urbana beginning at 9am from Urbana's Farmers' Market and supported by organizations like the Urbana Free Library and Common Ground Food Co-op.  The ride aims to show just how easy it is to get around by bicycle in Urbana.

A drawing for prizes will be held after the ride on the porch of Common Ground Food Coop at Market at the Square. Prizes include gift certificates, pool passes, a bike helmet,  and t-shirts.  You can preregister for the ride at: www.champaigncountybikes.org.

today: open hours plus hum!

This isn't bike related; it's just fun: tonight Hum will reunite to play a free show at Champaign's 150th birthday celebration, a festival Smile Politely rightly declared to be "not that bad!"  Remember Hum?



They're on at 9pm, when the heat should have abated.  Before then, you're invited to escape the heat by stopping by open hours in our (thankfully) air conditioned shop in the UC-IMC.  We've got a few bikes for sale or you can join the co-op and start a build-a-bike.  Our volunteer staff will help you learn how.  Open hours run from 2-5pm today.

PS: Go Heat!

weekend bike events?

We've got some!

First, the Art Gallery Bicycle Tour, which was rained out last weekend, will take place rain or shine this Saturday, 12 June.  It's a self-paced ride around town, punctuated by visits to some of C-U's art galleries.  Entry fee is a $10 and you'll get a discount on food at some participating restaurants. Check out the Champaign Cycles page for more details.  (And read a preview I wrote for last fall's iteration of the Tour.)

This weekend Champaign will also host Taste of C-U in West Side Park.  Some Bike Project volunteers will be volunteering at the bike corral and if you get there by bicycle, you'll get a free drink ticket good at one of the Pepsi tents.  The Champaign Park District website has more info.

(And if you'd like to see some live theater, the U-C IMC's hosting a "woven collage of music, theater, and dance" called Aquatown: A Future Hydrohistory.)

The Bike Project's also got a bunch of open hours this weekend if you'd like to stop by our shops.  The U-C IMC shop will be open 2-5pm on Saturday and Sunday; the Campus Bike Project from 5-9pm on Sunday.

Hope to see you out and about!

and we're back

We've been on vacation from blogging, spending time scouring rust off old Schwinns with steel wool and elbow grease.  We really should get a Dremel.

But last week we heard that we "should totally blog about the shop!" ... and we agree.

Despite our laxity, we're still in the news!  Smile Politely (our incestuous sort of sister site) featured an article by a U of I journalism student about how we recycle old bikes.  And next week, probably on Monday, 7 June, C-U tv station WCIA's morning show will feature a segment on The Bike Project live from the campus shop.

And if you're looking for some bike-related fun this weekend, check out C-U's Art Gallery Bicycle Tour.  (Here's a preview I wrote for Smile Politely for the last iteration of the Tour.)

One last PSA: if you'd like to contribute to the blog, please email us and let us know.

tomorrow: ride of silence

Tomorrow night -- 19 May at 7pm to be precise! -- C-U will play host to the annual Ride of Silence.  The Ride of Silence aims both to honor cyclists who have been hurt or killed and to raise awareness that cyclists are by-right users of the roads, or, as the slogan goes, that "we are traffic!"

Here's some details from an email to The Bike Project's member listserv:

We start at the parking lot near the assembly hall at First and St. Mary's. The route will be N on first to Stadium Drive, then across 45 (Neil Street) to Randolph and through downtown Champaign, then South on First and then down Green Street, then a bit North on Busey to Main and through downtown Urbana, then South on Vine to ILlinois, then Goodwin, then Pennsylvania, Fourth and back to the lot. It's about 9 miles and we'll be going less than 12 MPH and regrouping whenever we get spread out.  (Note:  this is pending me looking at this on the map -- it's changed a tad from last year so we can ride a little on new bike lanes on Goodwin).

In the past we've had about 35 riders; if riders wear black armbands (a garbage bag cut into strips works) or have a sign on bikes indicating who they're riding for, then it communicates what we're doing to passersby.

The purpose of this ride is

• To HONOR those who have been injured or killed
• To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here
• To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD; that drivers recognize that there’s room for all of us out here, and that a bicyclist may be around the next corner and has every right to be. 

We are looking for respect, not retaliation; for visibility, not vengeance. Let us show how to share the road by a positive example. Please follow the rules of the road. Ride as you would in a funeral procession; ride predictably.

Point out potholes and road hazards; signal turns and if you slow down. Momentary inattention is the number one cause of accidents -Be aware of what is in front of and BEHIND you, watch your line, and keep your hands near your brakes. 

We are riding as a group, silently but use your judgement regarding both. Allow for breaks in the group when it makes sense.

next monday: the bike project's volunteer mixer

Have you been staffing at The Bike Project?  Are you interested in starting?  Then you should come out to The Bike Project's volunteer mixer next Monday, 17 May at 7:30pm at The Bike Project's shop at the U-C IMC in Urbana.

There will be food and great folks to chat with about volunteering. If you're interested in starting to volunteer, or if you want to continue volunteering this summer, come prepared to let us know when you'll be available. We'll also be redoing some staffing hours and volunteer schedules, so if you'd like or need to switch days, this will be a good chance to do so.

Please let us know if you plan to attend so that we can get a head count on food.

Hope to see you there!

tuesday, 4 may: c-u's very own bike to work day

If you're not already biking to work -- and, really, it's been so nice out that you should be -- next week's C-U Bike to Work Day might be just the motivation you need to get started.  Next Tuesday, 4 May, a generous group of sponsors (including The Bike Project) will hold our micro-urban shangri-la's celebration of car- and carbon-free commuting.

From 7-10am, C-U Bike to Work Day will have four stations set up around town featuring coffee and other treats for old and new bike commuters.  The stations will be located at

• Downtown Champaign - Neil Street & Main Street
• Downtown Urbana - Main Street & Vine Street
• University of Illinois - Engineering Plaza (Green Street across from the Illini Union)
• Savoy - Savoy Recreation Center (Prospect Avenue and Graham)

You can register for C-U Bike to Work Day here.  You can find out about the third and last in a series of classes on Bike Commuting 101 here.  And if you'd like to volunteer to help staff one of the Bike to Work Day stations, you can sign-up here.

...and you can click here for a great website all about commuting by bicycle!

this sunday: seminar on brakes

This Sunday, 2 May at 3pm at The Bike Project shop at the UC-IMC, we'll be holding an informal class on brakes.  We'll be tackling basic issues like brake pad alignment and cable adjustment.  If there's time, we might also speculate on the historico-material significance of the difference between rod brakes, cantilever brakes, and drum brakes.

(Hint: dialectically speaking, these differences are determined in the last instance by capitalism itself.) 

Bring your bike by the shop and we'll help you shape up your brakes!

three speed hub maintenance clinic tonight!

Yesterday's Bike Stroll 2 got rained out, but to make it up to everyone we're having an event indoors tonight:

Tonight, 27 April, at 5:30pm at The Bike Project shop at the UC-IMC, TBP volunteer Carl will be conducting a three speed hub maintenance clinic, focusing on maintaining and rebuilding 3 speed Shimano and Sturmey-Archer internally geared hubs. If you've never seen it, the insides actually look something like this:

(public domain image from Wikimedia Commons, which also includes a list of labels for each part)

That's just 45 things to learn about, multiplied by how it all fits together!

this sunday: bike stroll 2

Last week, we accidentally had the first ever Bike Stroll (tm): a sociable and nearly aimless slow ride around C-U. Think of it as Critical Mass minus its nascent political project or antagonism toward cars. Plus fun.

This week, we're reprising it. We'll meet around 5:30pm on Sunday evening outside The Bike Project shop at the U-C IMC. From there? Who knows. We heard that The Big Lebowski's playing at the Canopy Club this Sunday at 7pm (presented by Smile Politely), but if we get swerved from there, then that's okay. Maybe we'll stumble upon an interpretive dance in a barn again instead. Think of it as bicycle-based dérive or psychogeography.

And the best part? You're invited. Meet us, if you like, outside The Bike Project around 5:30 Sunday!

report from the first "bike stroll"

Sunday, we went out for an aimless slow ride, ostensibly a) to check the gearing on my new Sturmey-Archer 5 speed internally geared hub and b) to see, in person, some murals we'd seen in pictures last Friday night at C-U's Pecha Kucha night (which was a great success!).

Well, the hub's working great but we never made it to the murals. We got sidetracked watching some UIUC dance students perform an improvisational piece -- while dressed to look sort of like zombies -- in a barn on the south side of campus. Bike Project volunteer Tony wrote about the experience for Smile Politely:

There was a large troupe of dancers in dark coveralls moving about, shuffling, sliding, writhing, and plunging in a mixture of zombie-like and playful ways. Almost as interesting as the dancers was the space. The basement of the barn was a dairy operation with eerie metal cages and milking stations set up in a circular array. Upstairs in the humongous domed hay loft a silo formed the center and the curvature of the roof drew the eye upward.... A spare musical accompaniment complemented the improvisational dancers as they were drawn into the hay loft. The audience was mixed in with the performers and they were clearly engrossed in the piece.

And so we're making Bike Stroll a weekly event. More details soon, but we'll be having very slow, very relaxed aimless rides around town on Sunday evenings departing at 5:30pm from The Bike Project shop. Check the blog again soon for more details!

the official bike project deck

...and by deck, I mean slideshow, powerpoint style...

Tonight Campus Bike Project manager Joel will be presenting a slideshow at C-U's third Pecha Kucha night. Never heard of Pecha Kucha? Well...

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

You can learn more about Pecha Kucha here. C-U's third Pecha Kucha takes place tonight, 16 April, beginning at 8pm at the Canopy Club. The Bike Project goes on early, with a slideshow about some basic bike repairs.

upcoming events at the bike project!

The Bike Project Monthly General Meeting
Lots on the agenda & food will be provided.  It's a great chance to ask about volunteering and otherwise getting more involved. All are welcome! (Want to check out what's on the agenda? Review it here.)  Meeting's at 6pm on Tuesday, 23 February

Women and Trans in Transit Night
To better serve some underrepresented members, we're holding a monthly event specifically for them, but all are welcome to attend. This event occurs the first Tuesday of every month from 6-9 pm! Most volunteer staffers will be women and childcare will be provided if needed. The next Women and Trans in Transit night will be Tuesday, 2 March, from 6-9pm

Learn-A-Bike Classes
The first Learn-a-Bike class starts Friday, Feb. 26 at 6 pm for 1st-5th graders.  We don't need any more volunteers to help run the first class, but if you're interested in volunteering at future classes, email Emma Barnes (ebarnes0@gmail.com) or Tony Cherolis (acherolis@gmail.com) for more information. Or you can check out our website for updated information (will be updated soon). Volunteering is a great way to share your bicycle skills and even learn from other volunteers. 


Bike Commuter Info Session
In preparation for Bike-to-Work Day (May 4th), The Bike Project is holding an info session to share all the useful information on bicycle commuting.  The info session will take place Tuesday, April 13 at 7 pm.