Newsletter - July 2007

Dear supporters of Yellow Bike,

Here's the news for July.  The summer shops are heating up and we are still there helping people get on bikes.  Thanks again for the support!

-The Yellow Bike Project


EARN A BIKE PROGRAM - Last month, in an effort to encourage volunteerism and get more bikes out of the shop and onto the road, the Collective launched a new Earn-a-Bike program.  Under the new policy anyone who volunteers 12 hours at the shop (the equivalent of 3 shop sessions) is eligible to  pick out a bike to complete for themselves for free. You can even store your bike in progress at the main shop for up to six weeks while you finish building and fine-tuning it. It's the perfect way to give back to the Project while gaining skills you'll use to build your own dream bike.

The response to the new policy has been significant, with many new volunteers utilizing the shop.  We've even added a second Volunteer Night to the schedule (Thursdays, 6-10 pm) to accommodate the increased interest.

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SHOP COORDINATOR? - We are increasingly in need of additional shop coordinators to allow us to accommodate new volunteers and help make their time at the shop productive and educational.  If you've been around the shop for a while or already have a strong set of mechanical skills, you can help.  Here's how it works:

After contributing 24 volunteer hours in the shop in a three month period you gain Collective Member status, which means you get to take part in our consensus-based decision making process at monthly Collective Meetings.   It's at these meetings that we establish day-to-day shop policies and a long term vision for the project.  You also get the privilege of storing on-going personal projects at the shop, with no time limit for completion (in contrast to the 6 weeks limit on earn-a-bikes), as we realize that the more you volunteer and help others utilize the shop, the less time you have to work on your own bikes.

As a Collective Member, you can become an Apprentice Coordinator and get trained to help run a workshop.  As a Workshop Coordinator, you get the additional benefit of 24 hour access to  the shop, making it easy and affordable to maintain your lifestyle as a transportation cyclist.  By committing to only one four hour shift a week at the workshop you also get the satisfaction of knowing you're helping to maintain Austin's Yellow Bike Project as one of the most dynamic, vital and long-running community bike projects anywhere. 

The first step is to complete a Coordinator Apprenticeship.  During your Apprenticeship you will serve as a Shop Coordinator once a week for at least a month.  This involves helping shop users with any questions that they have about their bike repair projects.  You do not need to be a bike expert to begin an apprenticeship because experienced Shop Coordinators will be there to answer any questions that you are unsure of.  Fielding the dozens of questions that you are asked while Coordinating a shop is by far the fastest way to learn about bike mechanics.

If you're interested in becoming a shop coordinator, and you've already contributed the 24 hours necessary to be a collective member, you can attend a collective meeting (1st Tuesday of the month at 7:30 at our 51st street shop) and announce your interest in apprenticing.  You can then work out a night of the week to begin your apprenticeship with an experienced coordinator.  If you'd like more information, come to any workshop and ask a Coordinator for more details on how to get involved.

LOTS OF READY-TO-RIDE BIKES AVAILABLE - For the last month our ready-to-ride rack has been full.  If you or someone you know is looking for a bike this summer and doesn't have time to fix it up themselves we have plenty to choose from.  These bikes are available for modest cash donations and the proceeds help to keep our shop stocked with working tools and supplies.

YBP SURVEY - Click here to take the survey now!  We are still running a survey to gauge what kind of impact the Yellow Bike Project has on the cycling community in Austin.  We hope that our free bike repair workshops empower people, like few other education efforts can, to depend on their bikes for transportation.  Still, we're always interested in getting feedback on our effectiveness as an organization and new ideas on how to better realize our vision.

To test test our intuition and gain a greater understanding of our organization, we created an online survey .  This survey is intended for anyone who has been involved with YBP through volunteering, fixing a bicycle, or learning about bikes.  Your participation is greatly appreciated, as it helps us continue to evaluate our value to the community.  Click here to take the survey now!

SCHEDULE - We now have two days a week reserved for volunteering to accommodate the recent increase in the number of volunteers.  Remember that you can volunteer anytime the shop is open not just on volunteer nights.

* Red Hours indicate Volunteer Shops: These shops are reserved for volunteering. Volunteers are also welcome anytime our shops are open. Personal projects are not allowed during volunteer shops; they can only be worked on during Open Shops. While volunteering, you can learn to fix bikes while giving back to YBP or accrue volunteer hours counting towards a free bike of your very own.
** Collective Meetings: Shop "closed" for collective meeting at our Main Shop (51st Street) on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Meeting begins at 7:30 pm. Open to the public. If you would like to contribute ideas to the collective, make requests, learn more about the project and its internal workings, or just get more involved this is the forum for you.
*** Volunteers Needed: We need volunteers so that we can expand and maintain hours of our shops. We want to be open more often. Come to the main 51st street shop to learn how you can help.