Learning With Vince UPDATE!

Just an addendum to the previous post about the Bike Repair classes coming up: this first one is really meant for people who have NO to little experience wrenching (that's what we call fixing bikes). So if you don't even know what "righty tighty - lefty loosey" means or don't know the difference between the stem or the handlebar, well this is the class for you!

And even if you do know what those things above are, I will try to inculcate folks with ways to think like a mechanic. Or at least how I think like a bike mechanic. So this means more of understanding how things works as opposed to memorizing a set of procedures to do when X happens.

Hope to see some new folks tonight during open hours at the UC-IMC shop!  This is a great way to get involved and orientated to what these fancy (and not so fancy) tools do.

Learning with Vince! - a bike repair class or something like it.

Yes, you heard correctly - a bike repair class! Or something like it.

TBP will be holding informal bike repair classes during the hour of the Wed hours (say, 6:30 til 7:30pm) and this will be open to all members. It's informal b/c....well...I don't have quite a schedule laid out. So far, it'll probably look something like this:

Week One: Safety check of the bike, identifying parts of the bike, and basics of wrenching.
Week Two: How brakes and shifting works, drivetrain (chains etc)
Week Three: Installing Stuff
Week Four: Fixing Stuff.

As you can tell, the last two weeks are up in the air. You'll be learning some basics of bike repair as I learn how to teach it. A big win for all.

So keep an eye out on this blog as I'll post more specifics of what I have planned for Wed Night Repairs. Let us know if you're interested in anything in specific and I can address that if you'd like in the future.

the bike project still seeks an americorps volunteer

We're still hiring for an Americorps volunteer position.  And we've extended the deadline for applications til 14 July.  The position is for a Volunteer Coordinator based at the UC-IMC shop.

If you'd like to apply, check out our pdf announcement for instructions.  And if you have any questions, email us at thebikeproject@gmail.com.

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!

tonight: women and trans in transit night

Tonight from 6 to 9pm, The Bike Project shop in the UC-IMC will host our monthly Women and Trans In Transit night.  Most of the volunteers staffing will be female and child-care will be provided!

next tuesday: the bike project general meeting!

Next Tuesday, 29 June at 6pm, The Bike Project shop at the U-C IMC will host The Bike Project's general membership meeting.  Our wiki has an agenda.

All members are welcome.  Food and drinks will be served.  Last time we had sandwiches -- which was cool -- but usually it's pizza, like so:

Hope to see you there!

saturday: tour de fruit

This Saturday, 19 June, C-U will host an impromptu Tour de Fruit, departing from the space outside The Bike Project's U-C IMC shop at 6:30pm.  Details from an email announcement:

Join local bicycle riders and fruit lovers as we excursion through the area. We'll visit a variety of fruit trees, including pears, apples, paw paws, persimmons, plums, apricots, peaches, mulberries, cherries, and juneberries.  Each stop on the route will have time for activities and discussion, and will end with a delicious snack at the end. The purpose of the ride is to share knowledge of trees, identify native edibles, engage with the community, and talk about new ways of navigating our landscape.

The group ride will begin at the IMC Bike Project and end at La Casa, a co-op house where the residents are working on a permaculture food forest.  

3-4 mile ride. Bring a helmet and containers to collect fruit.

Here's a link to the blog entry announcing the Tour. And here, some pix of fruit from around town.

(Update: Smile Politely just posted a C-U Fruit Map!)

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!

pix of the urbana shop

During open hours last night, Bike Project volunteer Carl made some pictures of the U-C IMC shop.  I showed up just in time to appear in one:

You can find more photos of both our shops (and some of our recent trip to Kickapoo) over at our photobucket page.

the bike project on tv!

(We cleaned the campus shop especially well last night because...)

This morning, Campus Bike Project manager Joel and The Bike Project's Volunteer Coordinator Emma appeared in two segments on WCIA's morning show!  WCIA's Nichole Szemerei spoke with Joel and Emma outside the campus shop and then Emma showed off the shop itself, including our collection of build-a-bike possibilities.

• Here's the first video, in which Joel and Emma talk about The Bike Project.

• And here's the second, in which Joel undertakes a brake repair while Emma shows off the shop and talks about the co-op.

PS: if you want a Bike Project tee shirt like those Joel and Emma are wearing, come by the U-C IMC shop in Urbana and get one for a $10 donation!  And if you'd like to become a member or to check out The Bike Project, stop by either the campus shop or the U-C IMC shop during open hours.

PPS: Thanks to Joel and Emma and thanks, too, to Nichole and WCIA!

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!

tonight: women and trans in transit night

Tonight, 4 May, from 6 to 9pm at The Bike Project shop in the U-C IMC, we'll be having "Women and Trans in Transit Night."

This is The Bike Project's monthly womens' night, with primarily female volunteers and an atmosphere devoid of know-it-all men!

(I kid.) 

And speaking of kids: childcare will be available if needed.

Stop by!

tonight: the bike project general meeting!

Tonight at 6pm at The Bike Project shop at the U-C IMC, The Bike Project will hold it's monthly general meeting. All members are invited; pizza and soda will be served. Pizza eating might look something like this:

(n.b.: President Obama probably won't be there.)

Here's a list of things we'll be discussing. You can also check out some sweet bikes for sale repaired by Joel, Carl, and me!