Yellow Bike Headquarters Update - We're nearly ready to break ground on our new long-term home.  It's all about money at this point.  Read on in BIKE BONDS! below,   

The 21st Street Coop Bike Project - The Coop's new bike shop is up and running.  Congrats to Will and everyone else who pitched in to make it happen so fast.  Stop by and check it out, drop off some old parts, tweak your bike, or work on one of theirs....maybe even show up on a regular basis to help others learn.  Like with us, you can do as much or as little as you want.  Check the schedule below for shop hours, and email Will if you've got any questions.  

BIKE BONDS! - We are kicking off a micro loan program to finance the last $120,000 of the total $300,000 of construction costs on our new headquarters facility.  We'd planned to cover this with a conventional bank loan, but have just discovered that we won't be able to do so.  The facility will be built on City land, and at the end of the 99 year lease the building will be turned over to the City.  Conventional bank loans require collateral that is unavailable in this arrangement, since the City will own the building at the end of the lease, and so we have to to look for alternative borrowing mechanisms.

The microloan program is a win-win arrangement that will benefit both the lender and The Yellow Bike Project:  on one hand, most saving accounts right now are earning much less than 3% interest.  On the other hand, even if we could get a conventional lender for Yellow Bike, the interest that they would charge is upwards of 8%.  This program allows us to give a better interest rate to our lenders than they would get parking their money in a bank account, and we spend less money paying interest on a loan - freeing up more money to fund programs and supplies.  And let's not forget what your money will accomplish in our hands: the completion of a long-term home for affordable self-serve bike maintenance in Austin.  This is about communities coming together to create solutions.  Wheatsville Co-op, using a similar program, raised over $715,000 from 160 investors for the recent expansion of their grocery store. 

If you are interested in participating, visit www.austinyellowbike.org/microloan.htm where you can find details about the program, view a draft contract, and a webform where you can sign-up to participate.  There you will also find past and current balance sheets that demonstrate our ability to repay these loans.  A Yellow Bike representative will contact you and arrange the signing of the contract and exchange of payment.  To keep our books as simple as possible, we're limiting these loans to a minimum of $1000.  If you'd like to help out, but can't swing a large enough loan at the moment, you can always make a smaller donation at www.austinyellowbike.org.  Thanks for your consideration, and please feel free to spread the word!

Urban Assault Ride - A team of the greatest volunteers on the planet rocked New Belgium's Urban Assault Ride, earning the Yellow Bike Project a donation of $1799. The event was amazing. Everyone had a great time, and the participants and organizers were impressed by our professionalism, work ethic, and our ability to party.  We want to give a huge thanks to everyone who helped out, and especially to New Belgium for putting it on.  If you were a volunteer and would like a UAR water bottle, contact Russel at this email address.

Bicycle Film Festival - The BFF will be in Austin this year from August 5-9. These five days will be packed with screenings, art shows, races, trick competitions, free stuff, parties, and afterparties.  Friday the 7th, there'll be a party at Creekside Lounge benefiting YBP.  You can expect tons of great music and product giveaways.  Special appearances from Benko, Supersonic Youth, Lick Lick, and possibly Rice Moorehead and One Hundred Flowers!   For more up-to-date info as the festival approaches, visit the BFF site.  Watch out for The Bicycle Cowboy, written by and starring longtime YBP coordinator Ben Lynch, and filmed, produced, and directed by Lucy Kreutz.  

Legislative Update - As we already discussed, Rick Perry ran the Safe Passing Bill off the road.  But there's lots of good news from this past Legislative Session.  SB 2041 passed, meaning that the car-bicycle dynamic will now be covered on driver's license exams.  Also, SB 161 will help fun BikeTexas' Safe Routes to School program through the sale of "God Bless Texas" and "God Bless America" license plates.  HB 736 initially contained a clause which would have allowed county governments to designate bicycles a nuisance and ban them (!!!!!!!!!), but BikeTexas successfully worked to remove that clause.  Whew! 
Locally, Chris Riley met with bike advocates and City staff to push forward the bike and pedestrian issues highlighted in his campaign. First on his agenda: rebuild the Shoal Creek trail south of Fifth Street to connect it to the Town Lake Trail. Riley said if it were a road it would have been fixed in a month, whereas we cyclists and pedestrians have been waiting thirty years for this trail to be fixed.  Good to have you, Chris!

TBC Mailing List - This past legislative session was a hot one for Texas bicycle issues, and future sessions will only get hotter.  In the Capitol lobby, the Texas Bicycle Coalition (TBC) has got our backs, but they need our help.  Let's give 'em a hand, ya'll, and help out where we can!  To stay informed on TBC's statewide advocacy efforts, sign up for their email newsletter here.