The First

The Clarkston shop has not yet opened its doors to the community, but we have already repaired a handful of bicycles. As we work to outfit the shop and train volunteers, curious passers-by often poke their heads through the bay door. And what better training could there be than to fix actual problems with actual bikes belonging to actual neighborhood folks.

Thanks to our volunteer Bill W. who was ready with his cell phone camera, we have a snapshot of a momentous occasion -- the first bicycle to be repaired at Communicycle Clarkston.

It's beginning to look a lot like Communicycle...

Thanks to all the volunteers (20 folks total) who made the Communicycle Clarkston work day a huge success. Once we put on the finishing touches and have a volunteer orientation, we are ready to go live! Here are a few photos from along the way today.

The shop's bay door opens up to a large basketball court with plenty of shaded work space.

Organization gurus Margaret and Kelly at work.

Posing in front of our new banner.

The first pile of miscellaneous bike flotsam. Momentous.

Communicycle Clarkston is almost ready to offer complete bicycle service to the community members.

A clever caption to make this photo seem cool does not exist.

Potential

After all the planning, all the meetings, all the ordering, all of the emails, all of the networking, and all of the fundraising, we head to the Clarkston Community Center to build and outfit a space for our second co-op location -- Communicycle Clarkston.

Heaps of potential sit stacked in my hallway. There are boxes of tools, an array of supplies, vats of simple green and jugs of Tri-Flow, plus the obligatory plethora of Sharpies, patch kits, and bike-related bramble.

It all sheds the shiny varnish tomorrow as it prepares to spring into action. May all of the effort make life just a little bit better for our sisters and brothers in the Clarkston community.

One question remains tonight -- with all of the excitement, how will I manage to sleep?

Solving Problems the Communicycle Way

Communicycle is a co-op, and it is open to people of all ages, but we often end up working with youth who live in the apartment complexes of Chamblee, GA. 

The youth have very little, if any, sense of bicycle etiquette and we have never seen anyone using a helmet. For a while, our approach was simply telling the teens a bunch of rules and whining at them put their helmets on when they ride.

It didn't work. 

In a discussion about this with one of our faithful volunteers, she had the great idea of 'showing' bike safety and etiquette in action instead of merely talking about it. Great idea!

So we packed our cars FULL of the kids' bikes (mine carried 11), and we trooped the youth over to the Silver Comet Trail, an amazing rails-to-trails paved path that runs from metro Atlanta to the state line of Alabama.

The participants were each given a helmet and required to wear it. We didn't have to say very much - most of the youth noticed right away that all of the other riders on the trail (and there were MANY) were wearing helmets too.

Additionally, the participants were taught some basic riding guidelines including how to pass safely and how to utilize some simple hand signals.

Everyone was told they could keep their helmets if they agreed to wear them. Several agreed, and I am thrilled that they did.

Special thanks to our faithful volunteer for organizing the day, preparing lunch, and making sure the event was a huge success.

Clarkston Co-op Taking Shape

So much enthusiasm is building as Communicycle makes significant progress in opening a second co-op location in Clarkston, GA. With space secured at the Clarkston Community Center, tools and supplies purchased, and a growing list of excited volunteers, a community bicycle program for the city of Clarkston is quickly moving from dream to reality.

There will be a workday at the Community Center on August 13 at 10am. We will be outfitting the shop with shelving, pegboard, and other fixtures as well as moving in a good amount of gear. We would love to have as many helping hands as possible, so please plan to join up. Look for us in the building adjacent to the basketball court.

Sopo Bikes Fundraiser

Communicycle is friends with Sopo Bikes, a bicycle co-op in East Atlanta. They are hosting their annual fundraiser, and we are helping to get the word out.

Sopo Bicycle Cooperative is proud to announce the seventh annual Broken Hearts and Bicycle Parts fundraiser the weekend of May 7th

April 11, 2011 – “Broken Hearts and Bicyle Parts 7: Backroads and Lightloads,” Sopo Bicycle Cooperative’s seventh annual fundraiser is slated for a weekend of fun, May 6-8th. This event has grown from an alley cat in past years to a full weekend of inclusive cycling events meant to encourage individuals to pick up their bikes and go for a ride.  Advance registration can be done now online at Sopobikes.org.  Those with smartphones can quickly link to the registration page via QR code from any of the posters or fliers around town. 

Friday, May 6th is set to be a low-key welcoming event for both travelling participants as well as new cyclists to town; including a group ride, cookout and dance party. We hope that this relaxing start to the weekend will encourage good friendly relations in the community and allow a positive competitive spirit to grow between participants.  Meet at Woodruff Park at 7pm for the group ride.

Saturday, May 7^th, alleycat participants will meet at Sopo Bike Coop at  3pm to pick up manifests, and the alleycat will at begin at 4pm. Participants will finish by 7pm at The Music Room, followed by a benefit concert starring Indyana Jonz, Basement Banshees, and The Wild, ending with DJ Soundwave spinning the night away.  Prizes will be awarded based on the originality of participant costumes, creativity and good spirit in completing checkpoint tasks, as well as overall time for completion.  Tickets to the benefit concert will be $10 but event participants will have complimentary access.  The benefit concert is an 21+ event, ID required.

We will also be hosting a farewell vegan friendly brunch Sunday starting at 1pm and all are welcome to come out.  This event will be hosted at WonderRoot and will be $5. 

Sopo Bicycle Cooperative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit bicycle repair workshop.  Sopo's mission is to create equitable access to bicycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance services and education.  All donations to Sopo are tax deductible.  The shop is located in the East Atlanta Village at 465-C Flat Shoals Avenue.  Operating hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 7 pm until 10 pm and Saturday afternoon from 2 pm until 5 pm.  Visit www.sopobikes.org for more information.

Jesus gets a bike for Christmas

Brian from World Relief (organization that works with refugees in Clarkston) called me yesterday. A Cuban refugee named Jesus with whom he has been working was robbed of his bike yesterday and Brian wanted to help him get a new bike. Jesus just started working at for a tech manufacturing company and his shift ends late at night, meaning he has to walk home in the cold and dark for a few miles.

I went to the Communicycle bike shop and picked up an old Schwinn mountain bike that I had just given a brown/ orange Communicycle custom paint job and fitted it with reflectors and a kick stand. I am really proud of this bike as a donation, as one of my best paint jobs, and as a commuter. It has pavement-friendly smooth tires, a steel lugged frame, and nice aluminum rims. I also picked up a u-lock and a decent front/rear light set.

I met Brian at Jesus' employer to drop off the bike, but unfortunately Jesus was busy working, so I could not meet him. We left the bike with his supervisor and he'll have a nice reliable bike to ride to and from work now.

I will do my best to tell the stories of the people Communicycle serves in the future, Jesus is just one of many and as important to us as every person whose life is touched by the gift of transportation.