Newsletter - June 2008

Dear supporters of Yellow Bike,

Welcome to the June edition of our newsletter.  Read on for details of many exciting upcoming events. 

-The Yellow Bike Project (YBP)

YELLOW BIKE BIRTHDAY -  Our 11th Birthday Party and closing celebration of Bike Month, at the United States Art Authority, was a smashing success.  A good time was had by all and a good bit of money was raised for our New Headquarters fund.  Thanks to all who attended as well as the venue, the bands, artists and volunteers who all made it possible.

NEW HEADQUARTERS FUND - Last month we announced the kickoff of our fundraising drive.  We are finalizing negotiations with the City of Austin to sign a 50 year lease for 3/4 acre of land at East 12th and Webberville RD.  We hope to raise $250,000 to see the building project through and have already set aside $90,024 towards this goal.  Go here to donate online.

We are also looking for help from licensed electricians, plumbers, and general contractors as well as general help with digging, framing, shop organization, painting, and planting (click here to let us know how you can help). Thanks to everyone who has already contributed or expressed interest in lending their expertise toward making our vision a reality; we will be in touch to take you up on your offer of help as the building process evolves and the time comes to get your hands dirty.   Visit our website for more details on our new home and how you can contribute.

Rendering of YBP's planned headquarters at 1200 Webberville Road (more details...)

51ST STREET SHOP CLOSING - This month (June 2008) all 51st street shops will be all-volunteer. Personal work at the 51st street shop and Earn-a-bike projects will be suspended until we have our new shop operational.  Minor repairs and maintenance on personal bikes can be done at our Treasure City Shop.  Hours will be expanded in coming months.

TREASURE CITY SHOP UPDATE -  May and so far June have been pretty exciting at the TC.  In addition to a lot of new interest from neighbors, we have been bringing in a lot of volunteers and doing a lot of good work on building and repairing bikes.  Since the shop is so small, we have been moving bikes out as quickly as possible, but still have a few nice "ready-to-ride" bikes and a decent stockpile of parts and tools.  By the end of this month we hope to have transitioned the Treasure City shop into the operational headquarters for Yellow Bike.  We are working to have some extra storage on-site to keep up with an expected increase in demand for both personal and volunteer projects.  Come by and check us out before things go crazy in July.

FRANKENBIKE - Frankenbike #34 - Saturday June 14th at the 51st Street Shop - YBP is teaming up with Chris Gross of Frankenbike to host a huge BIKE SALE and parts swap meet in the 51st street shop's final weeks of operation.  The event is a fundraiser for YBP's new headquarters fund, and will also serve to get as many bikes as possible out of the shop and onto Austin streets before the current YBP location closes for good at the end of June.  We are also looking forward to lightening our load before the human-powered move from the 51st street shop to our new Weberville site.  A wide variety of ready-to-ride bikes will be available, including those in the $10 to $20 range. Stop by any scheduled shop night to volunteer and help build up bikes for the sale.

HUMAN-POWERED MOVE PART II - 2.4 miles, 11 years of bike parts...
On Saturday June 21st beginning at 10am once again we will move a Yellow Bike shop using human power. We will be moving every bike, bike part, tool, and work stand in the 51st street shop to our new site at 1200 Webberville. Some of you might wonder why we would torture ourselves with a feat like this when several of us own trucks that would make the task much easier. The answer is that 1) we like bikes and 2) we plan on having a great time doing it. So meet us at the 51st Street Shop (map) at 10am with your bicycle, tricycle, bike trailer, panniers, backpacks, bungie cords, or anything else you think might help out.  In case your still sceptical, watch a video of our last human powered move.