19 February Update

Thanks to all the many volunteers and MDS student students who came out this week to help out with the Biloxi bikes and program development work. On Wednesday during the shoptime several people came in to work on bikes. In addition, Lee Ravensburger (Director of Working Bikes in Chicago) was in town on his way home from Maya Pedal in Guatemala. He brought with him all the parts necessary to turn any bike into a pedal generator. You should definitely come down to the shop and try it out if you're interested, but basically for $50 worth of parts this is a complete system with battery and inverter that can run any AC appliance up to 120W. We've been running the shop TV and VCR off it to show movies. We also have the other generator that runs the compressor off an exercycle. We're continuing to experiment with variations on both designs. One of the next ones will be a recumbent, much easier to adjust for riders of different size.

We got a few more bikes fixed up for Biloxi on Saturday and it's looks like we've found busloads of drivers going that way over Spring Break. Now we just need to locate a truck and funds to cover expenses. There are 55 bikes ready to roll, another 15 that can be sent as-is and 25 bikes at the Morgantown Police Station that should arrive at the shop this week. Next Saturday maybe our last workshop for these bikes, but we will still collect them until March 10. See the website for this week's shop times. Hope we'll see you there!

Preparations are underway for the League of American Bicyclists' Bike Summit in DC Mar 1-3. We are sending 1 representative, but on Friday Mar 3 there is a bike ride with members of Congress that everyone is invited to join. Sign up at the shop if you are interested in going. We'll try to arrange carpools.

14 February Update

Happy Valentine's Day,
The website is now up, it looks a little rough but we have a WVU student working on getting it polished. At present there is just a front page with no subordinate pages, but these are in work.
On Wednesday night (Feb 15) there will be a shop night from 5-7 pm - I'll try it a little earlier and see if anyone else shows up. If we get good attendance the midweek date will continue. We are now offering memberships to anyone who wants to use the shop for fixing their own bikes. Dues will pay for shop tools. Members receive free access to recycled parts, use of the shop and tools and we are working on discounts with local bike shops. Look for more info in the upcoming newsletter.

We have about 50 bikes ready to go to Biloxi but are still looking for transportation. If you plan on driving South over Spring Break and would like to get free one-way transportation drop me an email at info@positivespin.org. Our police bikes have been delayed - we hope to get them next week.

There are several new articles up at the shop bulletin board about other community bike shops that have sent bikes to the Gulf Coast. Also an article about Plan B which mentions Morgantown having sent bikes - right along with Chicago and Phoenix.

This Saturday the shop will be open 10-5, with public time from 1-5. We will be starting a pedal car restoration project. This pedalcar will be our visual aid for public events at the Mall in April and during May bike month. Come help out if you can.

Thanks!

5 February Update

On Friday we had another Critical Mass ride with about 12 riders, making the rounds of downtown several times before disbanding. The planned movie night at the shop was cancelled due to lack of attendance. Most of the Mass riders had other commitments. This has been postponed to next Friday Feb 11. I will have a better selection of movies then, and photographs to look through as well.

This Saturday we got more bikes fixed up for Biloxi, bringing our total to 45. If we get bikes from the Morgantown police we will still try to get 100 total. Otherwise we'll call it good at 50. We are still looking for transportation to get them to the Gulf Coast. If you know of anyone going that way with truck or trailer space please let us know.

We've had a lot of interest in having a midweek workshop night for members and volunteers to work - many of them leave town on weekends. We'll do our first trial night on Wednesday Feb 8 from 6-8 pm. I'll be managing the shop and Will may try to be there too. After that we are looking for a skilled volunteer to supervise one night during the week. If you can help out please let us know.

Event Summary:
Wed Feb 8 - Open shop 6-8 pm
Fri Feb 10 - Movie night 6-8 pm (no shop work)
Sat Feb 11 - Open shop 1-5pm

Hope to see you at one of these events.