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Newsletter - November 2009 Fall's here, the weather's fantastic, creeks are flowing, and we've got thick, exquisitely marbled slabs of bike neatness to report. Read on for the sweet deets.  SHOP CONSTRUCTION NEWS Yellow Bike Headquarters Update - As of press-time, new shop construction is somewhere around the rebar/rough plumbing phase. Rain has caused some setbacks (which is totally fine; we'll take construction delays over a major drought any day), but it's still quite possible the building will be done on schedule. An online album of construction images can be found here. Once the structure is up, we'll be needing your help to finish it out and get it ready for use. Sign up here to help with construction on work party days, beginning around the end of this year. We're also looking for cheap or donated materials for our mezzanine inside the shop, the outside deck and pergola, and the rainwater collection system and community garden. Lettuce know if you have any leads. Or, to prune off that last little nub of cost, please consider making a donation or loan. We heap mountains of thanks on everyone who's already invested in the future of YBP. FUNDRAISING UPDATE Battle of the Non-Profits - On a few lovely Saturdays last month, we posted up at a table in front of the Patagonia store on Congress Avenue, "competing" with Poder Texas and the Save our Springs Alliance for an environmental service grant of $2,500. The good news is that WE WON! The bad news is that now you have to get out and ride your YBP-serviced bikes to help us follow through on our environmental service goals. And the really bad news is that you'll have a blast doing it. We're sorry, and thanks for voting. Green City Festival Bike Choir Performance - The Yellow Bike Gospel Choir will be making an appearance at the Green City Festival again this year. For those that have seen one of our performances, you might be interested to know that the Choir was concieved expressly for the first Green City Festival two years ago. Yellow Bike had been asked to do a "tent talk" on bicycle maintenance at the event. When our planning meeting was co-opted by libations and fire and brimstone digressions from our to-be reverend Haley, the wheels started turning and we decided what was really called for was some old fashioned "tent revival" with full backing choir and sermons from the good book of bicycle repair. To make a long story short, we were a hit (which was a bit of a surprise), we found that we loved singing together, and we have made a half dozen appearances since then at Yellow Bike birthday parties, farmers markets and the like. So if you have lately been feeling the temptation to drive, come on out and let us rid you of those demons. Performance starts at 2:30, Saturday November 14th at City Hall at the "Tent Talk" tent. Wurst Ride - On Sunday, November 7th, a few of us volunteered with the annual Wurst Ride, a supported group ride from Austin that winds up at Wurst Fest in New Braunfels. Most everyone seemed to have a great time drinking lots of beer, eating huge, pale sausages with sauerkraut, and listening to a Blondie cover band. People were shuttled back and forth between Wurstfest and the ride's finish line on an old school bus driven by a viking. We met several folks who said this was their first ever long bike ride. Neat! Those of us who missed it are reevaluating our priorities. The Sweaty Office - In recent months, we've been working with the downtown office of Travis County to start up an office bike-share program which is finally about to take off. Along with BikeNotes and AAMP, where our Monroe satellite is housed, we donated four very rideable bikes to the County, for employees to ride on errands, lunch breaks, and between downtown office buildings. We also helped them buy U-locks and a full toolset at wholesale prices, and trained Barton, one of their auto-mechanics, to maintain the bikes. The whole thing was Travis County Precinct 2 Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt's idea, but we've got to take some credit for helping to get it off the ground.
GET INVOLVED/LOCAL ADVOCACY Safely passed! - Thanks to Councilmembers Chris Riley and Mike Martinez, and Mayor Leffingwell, motorists in Austin are now required by law to pass cyclists and other vulnerable road users at a safe distance of at least three feet. Rational non-psychopaths have been doing this intuitively for decades, but the ordinance is nonetheless a big step forward in safening up our roads. Where before you had to actually hit someone with a car to have even a slim chance of peing prosecuted, we've finally got some legislation that acknowledges and attempts to manage the anti-human potential of the automobile. Legal changes like this are integral to the growth aimed at by the Bike Plan, so let Council know that you like how they vote. And don't be spoiled - having your very own Safe Passing law is no excuse for not signing BikeTexas' petition to Governor Perry. Above all, remember that this law only gives you symbolic protection. When you are physically out there on the streets, you still have to watch your own physical back. League of Bicycling Voters - Austin, joining the ranks of all of the great bicycle-friendly cities, now has a staffed local bicycle advocacy organization! The League of Bicycling Voters (LOBV) recently took on Tom Wald as the staffed executive director of the organization. Tom has been a board member of the LOBV for three years. In that time, he has worked to ensure good bicycle facilities at the Mueller redevelopment and other Austin locations. He is currently the vice chair of the city's Bicycle Advisory Council, and helped found the Orange Bike project while a student at UT Austin. Tom's first goals as executive director are to get buy-in from the cycling community on the role of the LOBV as the central voice for local bike advocacy, to increase membership in the organization to sustain paid staff, and begin the process of coordinating local advocacy efforts by coalescing a solid corps of engaged volunteers.We at Yellow Bike are very excited about these developments as we have been grappeling with how to engage in advocacy for several years. In Novemeber of 2007 we released an Advocacy Statement to guide our own advocacy efforts. All the while, in these efforts, we knew that Austin was in desperate need of a central local advocacy organization that could coordinate advocacy opportunities across organizations like Yellow Bike, Austin Cycling Association, BikeTexas, bike shops, and individual bicyclists who want to see progress on the streets. So, to get involved, to elect the the new board, to make the LOBV your own, come to their next meeting on Tuesday, November 17th at 6:30pm SHARP. The meeting will be in the Conley Conference Room at the George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina St. -- on the Comal St. bike route, and served by bus routes 2, 6, 21/22, and 320. More information about the LOBV can be found on their website. Austin Comprehensive Plan - Austin has begun the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan which was originally adopted in 1979 and is very out-of-date. The Comp Plan is the overarching, guiding, and arguably the most important of all the plans in Austin. The Bicycle Plan is a subservient plan that further defines the Comp Plan, but must be in harmony with its broader vision. This is the plan that sets our community priorities for the next decades to come. If you feel strongly about mobility (walking and bicycling), land use, affordable housing, stable neighborhoods, more local business, better access to countryside and farmland... now is your chance to vocalize your vision. Here are a few resources to get you started.
We urge you to participate in this process to help shape the future of this City. They are structuring this public input process so that even those who can't invest much time will be able to have a voice. Pass this on to other lists you think relevant. Give Council Feedback on New Bicycle Facilities - The surge of new bicycle facilities continues. This year the City doubled the miles of bicycle lanes installed compared to last year, which was more than was installed in any year previous! Just last week the City installed it's first shared lane markings on Guadalupe, Lavacca, Dean Keeton, and 51st Street and its first bike boxes at Speedway at 38th and Shoal Creek at Anderson. As part of this project of firsts, colored lanes will soon be added to conflict areas on the Dean Keeton bike lanes. Within the last month, new bicycle lanes have been installed on Braker, West 6th Street, Rosewood, and Davis. In May over 300 bicyclists showed up for the adoption of the Bicycle Plan Update. Because the plan was backed by a broad coalition of cyclists who showed up in numbers, the aggressive plan passed council unanimously. If you like what you are seeing on the streets, email city council and tell them what these facilities mean to you. We hear that there are many great facilities coming but we need your help to change the priorities on OUR streets. SHOP NEWS Monroe Shop - We're officially settled into our new satellite shop on the South side - 411 W. Monroe St, at the AAMP Warehouse. We are running shops on both Monday and Friday this month, so check out the schedule below. We don't have a lot of parts yet, but we do have four tool walls with work stands, and a lot of experienced coordinators. Check out our cool new rolling work benches! This shop is held in the back corner of a large shared warehouse space, protected from the elements (with heat!). Come on by and help the newest Yellow Bike shop develop it's own distinctive vibe. Also, feel free to donate bikes and parts at either Monroe or Treasure City during open hours. SCHEDULE - Subject to change after the first Tuesday of the month - Check the website before coming by . . .
**1st Tuesday of each month, there is no shop. We are all at the monthly collective meeting.
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