Positive Spin promotes community-friendly transportation (walking, biking, busing and carpools) in Morgantown ,WV. Ask about our youth Bike and Pedestrian safety clinics for schools and community groups. Our instructor is certified by the League of American Bicyclists' for its nation-wide curriculum.
GRANTWRITERS!! We need your help - there are many grant opportunities coming our way but we need people with time and experience to apply for them.
Good morning, I'm taking an unofficial retreat for a few days to work from Wadestown so the shop will be closed today and tomorrow (Thursday, Friday). We'll have regular hours on Saturday (1-5pm) and next Monday, Tuesday (1-5) and Wednesday (1-7). Our Fall/Christmas bike drive begins on Sunday in cooperation with Tau Beta Pi. Please consider coming in to help out during our regular hours. If you have a group that wants to help out and you need a different time, contact me by email (info@positivespin.org) and we'll set it up. Currently we have about 15 bikes, and would like to beat last year's number of 70, but we need to start getting bikes quick to get everything done in the next 6 weeks. We've looked into purchasing new bikes - using our regular supplier it would cost $3100 for 20 bikes. If you know of a more affordable source of new bikes please let us know. Even new bikes will require volunteers (to assemble) so the thing we need most it YOU. Thanks
Good afternoon, Yesterday after completing repairs for a customer and working with a volunteer we decided to close up shop early and go for a ride in the cool, dry Fall weather. Nancy and Amanda and I rode from Seneca Center to the Uffington Bridge and back at a leisurely pace, visiting with friends we met along the way. There were a lot of them, and I'm pleased to say that many of the bikes they were riding came from Positive Spin. In almost all of the cases the riders would not have been able to get a bike otherwise, and riding has made a big positive change in their lives. In some cases it was for homeless clients of the Bartlett House who can now get to a job or visit friends. Other riders are in the process of recovering from injuries or illness and the bike has accelerated their recovery while giving them a much better feeling about themselves. In every case bikes have meant freedom and self-reliance, and a better sense of self worth for their riders. I hope this will be an encouragement to everyone else to get out and ride more - it certainly was to me.
The board meeting attendance was insufficient to have elections. It has been rescheduled again for next Tuesday at the same time and place. (Tuesday, Nov 3 6:30pm in the Positive Spin shop). Thanks to those who attended - Bill Dodrill, Chase Hixson, John Lozier and myself (Nick Hein). We have a candidate to be the new Executive Director so we need urgently to get a board together who can evaluate and hire him. If you have experience serving on a non-profit board and you would like to see Morgantown transportation change, please come to the next meeting and help us make change for the better.
Good afternoon, This morning I stopped at the new Mountaineer Station parking garage and transportation center to see how things were progressing on the bike room and showers. In short, they're ready to use. The picture above shows what the room looks like with 18 hanging hooks along the wall and gym lockers (for storing riding clothes) on the opposite wall. The picture is taken from the back of the room looking toward the entry door. There's still plenty of room for a vending machine to dispense repair parts, and a small work area. The room will be unlocked but monitored with security camerasat all times. Commuters may lock their bike to the rack with their own rack, but may be asked to leave a key at the desk in the event the bike is left unused for too long. There is also an excellent shower and changing room which is also ready to use, with only some trim and finishing details remaining. According to Eric Rosie, facilities manager for the building, commuters will borrow a key for the shower from the desk attendant. If you currently commute by bike and this facility is convenient for you I'd strongly recommend starting to use it as much and as you can to show that it is needed and appreciated. If you bike commute anywhere to WVU, and if this facility isn't convenient for you, please put a post in the comments. It would be particularly useful if you bike now and have to improvise a storage place. Mentyion which campus you are in and we'll contact the transportation dept to let them know that this facility is needed near you. They are excited about supporting bike commuters. The only significant amenity left to finish is the outdoor bike parking rack area. This will be on the terrace in the picture below, with a roof covering it.
Good morning, It's been a busy few days and I haven't had a chance to post updates. Here's the latest... Saturday was totally quiet in the shop because of the WVU football game and the chilly Fall weather. In spite of that Jonathan, a high school volunteer, came in to help out along with Don and Will Ravenscroft. We got a few bikes done and then decided to call it a day early. Will took some bikes down to the warehouse and I went to visit with friends. Monday a customer came in to work on her bike while I hovered around to answer questions. Oso, a young man with MS who had come to us to re-learn how to ride a bike came to see if we could fit him with a bike before the end of the season. Shortly after he left we received a brand new "Jeep" mountain bike, so he'll be coming back today to see that. I drove with a friend to Cooper's Rock to watch the sunset. It was magnificent and I plan to get back up there on a bike soon to ride the trails. The colors are just about at their peak right now. We watched falling leaves float back up on the updrafts from the sun-heated rocks. Tonite is our board meeting and elections. Please attend if you can. We want your input in who/how Positive Spin is run, and how we can better serve and support sustainable transportation.
Good evening, Today I'm working from the farm to get some quiet time. After spending most of the day trying to get internet connection, I finally got some work done. Today's job was to convey media materials and contact to Anne Mallow and Will Ravenscroft so they can start the media campaign for the Christmas Bike Drive, supporting Christian Help's Toy Drive Dec 17. You can now find the information on the web page in the "events" panel on the upper right side of the page. The only thing missing is the event planner, which I wasn't able to upload. I'll get it up on the page as soon as I can get through to the web host tech guy (who I hope isn't working this late on a Friday like me).
Thanks to Anne Fallow of TBP and the Industrial Engineering volunteers who came in again faithfully on Thursday to help around the shop. We cleaned out the back closet, fixed up a few more Christmas bikes and then went to Rock Forge neighborhood house to demonstrate the pedal generator to gradeschool-age kids. Looks like we'll be back again soon. It was a hit.
Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a regular shop day from 1-5pm. We'll be working on Christmas bikes and trying to get the last customer repairs of the season out while the weather's still good enough to ride in. See you then. Nick
On Monday the Mountaineer Station was officially opened to the public in a ribbon-cutting ceremony (picture above-click to enlarge). The facility has a capacity for 500 cars, 28 bikes (18 indoors and 10 outdoors) as well as bus stops and good pedestrian access. There is a spacious shower facility just inside from the bike room. The bike room will have hanging hooks for bike storage (with a lock loop), security cameras monitored 24/7, clothes lockers and a vending machine to supply emergency repair parts and tools. The entry door will remain unlocked at all times, but the cameras should provide an adequate deterrent to theft and vandalism. The building will also house a commuter student lounge, offices for the parking and traffic management dept of of WVU and a stairway/elevator leading up to the health sciences PRT and campus buildings. It will be possible to bike up from the Van Voorhis level to the HSC buildings, while taking in a beautiful view from the gangway at the top of the stairs. More pictures HERE.
Last nite was our board election meeting. Due to a very low turnout we have rescheduled for next Tuesday Oct 27 at 6:30pm in the shop. Attendance is requested from current and prospective board members.
Good evening, I missed posting last nite. Here's the latest, starting with this week's events.... Shop hours will be as usual, Mon/Tues/Sat 1-5. Wed 1-7pm Monday 10-12 am: Grand Opening of Mountaineer Station. Let's fill up the bike room! Tuesday 6:30 pm: Positive Spin board meeting
Saturday in the shop: Open shop time was quiet, with just Will, his Dad Don and I working. Mid-afternoon I had to go to Pathfinder for a repair part. When I came in the door on a bike the said I should have driven since they had a bunch of tires and kickstands to give me. I took them anyway, then walked to the restaurant for a Tahini salad. As soon as I walked in the door there Mohammed greeted me saying he had a bike for me to repair and would give me a ride to the shop with my stuff.
We finished off the afternoon without actually finishing any bikes. The ones we worked on still have issues, but they'll be sorted out this week sometime.
I'm also planning to put in an order for parts - mostly tires, wheels and misc items. This will probably go in early this week. Now that the wheel room is complete and we can see what we have, I know what I have to order.
Look for the article in today's Dominion Post paper by Bill Reger-Nash concerning active transportation. There's a good plug for bike commuting.
Tomorrow, bring your bike to the grand opening of the Mountaineer Station. Let's see if the place will really hold as many bikes as they say! I can't wait to find out. Nick
Good morning, Today I'm telecommuting from my temporary home in Wadestown, WV (Wana actually). It's a pastoral scene on a small subsistence farm run by a young family who have moved here to escape big-city life on Long Island, NY. Under the fall colors there are chickens, geese, ducks, sheep, goats, horses and cows milling around in the chilly dampness. There are 5 kids (a boy and 4 girls) in the family, all wonderfully kind and sweet. For that reason this news story from Texas hit me especially hard when I read it.
I've updated and re-posted our general tri-fold brochure. I've also added a new brochure advertising our services to help other communities set up similar operations to ours. These will be handed out at next weeks Solid Waste Educational Conference.
I'll spend the rest of the day catching up on some administrative and organizational tasks I've been putting off.
The blog now has links to some sustainable transportation advocacy sites that will probably be of interest to Positive Spin followers. The tax receipt form (for donors who want a deduction) has been posted on the site.
If you'd like to subscribe to these blog posts you can do so from the link at the bottom right corner of the blog page (Atom posts). This will put a live link in your browser bookmarks. I also understand you can have these posts sent to you by email. Post a comment if you'd like to learn how (and when I figure it out I'll let you know).
We had a lower turnout than expected for the afternoon volunteer session so Nicki and I spent some time updating the member/donor/volunteer database and doing some odd jobs around the place. Including installing the rest of the hooks in the wheelroom (see picture). We also played with the generator a little more. This thing is cool and easy to make. We can promote it within our mission as it is a good trainer for people just getting in to cycling - as well as recycling bikes, treadmills and training stands. My post on Craigs list hasn't brought anything to us yet, so I'll be going to gyms to see what they do with their worn out treadmills.
Nicki has approached the WVU Environmental Law student group about volunteering, and they are excited about the opportunity. We'll be working on this more in the near future.
Due to the low volunteer turnout we didn't get any bike work done today. There's lots to do, if you're available Saturday please consider coming in to help us out even if it's just a few minutes on the way to the game.
Help Wanted: We need volunteers for the following tasks to support our Fall membership drive... Collect names and email addresses of past members, donors, volunteers for new mailing Write newsletter to include in mailing and membership solicitation Establish member/donor/volunteer/supporter database Setup file backup and sharing system for office computers (Rsynch)
Today: Solid Waste Symposium - Next Monday-Tuesday Oct 19-20 at Waterfront Place. There is a vendor exhibit area which is free to enter so that's where we'll be. Mon Cty Solid Waste has offered to post our flyers at their exhibit area, they'll even print them in color for us, so I'm sending them the materials electronically. Attendance is $150, $300 for a booth. Next year we expect to be asked to give a presentation so attendance will be free.
WE CAN of WVU has officially commissioned us to construct one of our generators for them. I turned in the invoice for last week's loan so the payment should arrive soon. Two more people have asked us to build units for them as well. Today I put out ads on Craigslist for training stands and discarded electric treadmills. If you have one please send it our way. The more recycled stuff we use the easier and cheaper it is to make these things.
I brought the donated laser printer into the office, hooked it up and it works. It's printing fine for now but I'm not sure how much toner is in it so if you have a cartridge laying around for an HP Laser (HP 92A Toner Cartridge, HP C4092A) please bring it by.
Shonda called from the Alliance for Biking and Walking to make sure we still plan on attending the Training Conference in Richmond, VA Nov 13-15. I confirmed that I am, but I'm not sure who else will be going. Any volunteers (where's Billy)? All expenses except meals are paid by scholarship.
On freecycle today there was a woodworking lathe being given away so I picked it up on speculation that we might be able to make generator rollers with it. If not I'll take it home. If anyone has experience using one of these things (or a set of cutting tools) please come by and show us what to do. Special thanks to Steve Knudsen for driving out to River Rd to pick it up.
Last nite's meeting at the Goshen Church for the Ridgedale Elem/Clinton Fire District "Bicycle Skills Clinic" went well. Thanks to Mary Ann for providing transportation to the meeting. My friend Mary Martin was there to represent the cub/boy scouts who will be helping us out. Since we've got plenty of time to plan I've started a project planning worksheet and posted it on the website for everyone to see and edit. (LINK)
Coming up: Tomorrow I'll be in early to show our pedal generator to Sandy Cress, she wants one for the kids at "Our Studio". I think she'll be impressed with all the recycled content we now have. We've got our usual 6 students from WVU Industrial Engineering, plus Nicki coming to help out. We're looking for work for them to do by then.
Friday the shop will be closed, opening as usual 1pm Saturday. I'll be in about noon to get things ready.
This morning I attended a free sustainability class sponsored by the WV Department of Environmental Protection and Bridgemont Community/Tech College (formerly WVU-Tech) in Montgomery, WV. Materials from the class are posted at the shop for anyone interested. It was a great opportunity to network with other local non-profits for the purpose of sharing our resources and services. Many online and organizational resources are listed in the handout. Most interesting is this Carbon Footprint Calculator.
This afternoon I'm making final contacts with prospective board members to notify them of the election meeting next Tuesday nite. Details and updates will be posted at the link.
I picked up more pulleys for the generators. The best option for rollers right now is to use an Ace Hardware 2" pulley (5/8" bore) and drill it out to fit the 17mm shaft. We've now got 3 pulleys. I'm looking for old training stands for sale to make a new unit. Also old treadmills that we can cannibalize for motors. We're also looking at other options for motors, particularly smaller ones that could be used on the bike for remote use.
I've updated the web page for the Christmas Bike Collection. It now has a (draft) poster for advertising. We are looking for volunteers to help with the publicity at this time. We're also hoping that TBP gets going on it pretty quick.
Tonite I'll be attending an organizing meeting at the Goshen Baptist Church to plan a bicycle rodeo in connection with the Healthy Heads program coming up next May 1 (2010) at the Clinton District Fire Dept. It's not too early to volunteer to help with organization and staffing of this event. Call the shop if you want to help out.
Coming events: Next week (Mon-Tues Oct 19-20) is the Solid Waste Educational Conference at the Waterfront Place Hotel. I'm planning to attend and MonCo Solid Waste has offered us space in their booth to advertise. There is a charge for admission, I'm waiting to hear back on the exact price. Next year we've been asked to give a presentation so our attendance will be free.
Also next May we'll be working again with the Mon County Child Advocacy Center to host a bike rodeo. That organizational meeting will be next Tuesday.
Happening tomorrow: I will be at a sustainability class tomorrow from 9am to 1pm, and possibly at an appointment until 2:30. It doesn't look like there is anyone else to run the shop so that's when I'll open.
Today: Thanks to Amanda for coming to work her regular Monday hours. She went through the list of board member candidates to let them know about the upcoming meeting Next Tuesday Oct 20 at 6:30 pm in the shop. Refreshments will be served.
While Amanda watched the shop I took off to run a couple of errands. First I stopped at Ace Hardware to pick up the pulleys I'd ordered to put on the generator. They seem to work OK, but it looks like they'll wear out the tire too fast. The 3/4" bore size is also slightly too big for the shaft. Tomorrow I'll see what it costs to bore them out, and see if it isn't better to have rollers made from scratch. If anyone reading this has a metal lathe and would like to give a quote on making them please let me know. Also looking for a watt-meter.
This evening I took the bike generator down to Wamsley Cycles to show Chip. If you don't know, Chip fills his Winter hours by repairing exercise equipment including treadmills (where our motor came from). He took a look at our (puny) motor and then took me into the back to look at a REAL treadmill motor. I can see why we're getting these things so cheap! They're still way overbuilt for our (re)purpose though. Voltage is another matter. With a 2" pulley running against a 700c tire we get only 100V no-load, and it dropped down to 60 when powering a drill. This means we're going to have to get a smaller roller somehow to get RPMs up so we have 120v under load. Any ideas are welcome. Turns out 17mm bore pulleys with 1/2x13 tpi threads are pretty rare in anything except treadmill flywheels - which are way too large.
Today was move-in day for the new Mountaineer Station - the multi-modal transportation center (public grand opening next Mon Oct 19). Hugh Kierig was just walking up the drive when I arrived so he gave me the tour of the bike parking facilities. First was the VERY spacious shower room, with room for a changing bench and clothes hooks - everything we recommended. Then we looked at the space for the outdoor racks (10) which will be covered and far enough back under the roof so that bikes are mostly shaded from sun and weather. Finally we made it in to the indoor bike room. Again it looks like everything we recommended has been put in place. A monitored (24/7) security camera has been installed so there is no need for access control on the door. It will be left open at all times (unless there are problems, at which time other options will be considered). There will be hanging racks for 18 bikes (now being installed), plus lockers for storing gym clothes and dress clothes separately. There will be an air compressor just outside the door next to the handicap spaces for inflating tires. In addition I recommend that a vending machine and small work area be provided inside the bike room for emergency repairs, as in the Seattle (and similar) Bikestation. Pictures tomorrow. Come see the Grand Opening next Monday if you can!
Expenses: $16 for pulleys a 2" and a 3" with 3/4" bore. We'll be returning them to exchange for the 2" ones with 5/8" bore so we can turn them out to 17mm.
Last nite's "Up All Nite" event was a big success. We brought another generator (these things are a cinch to build!) to demonstrate the blender. Students powered 2 lights - a CF and an incandescent - for 30 seconds to get a feel for what it takes to make electricity. There was a waiting line all nite long. We have another generator started based on a commercial training stand. We are looking for something to use for a roller that will fit on the motor shaft (1" - 1/2 x 13tpi for 1 inch and straight 3/4" for the remaining inch. If you have ideas please let us know.
This morning we loaded a truck from "Bikes for the World" in Rockville, MD. Phil Ruth showed up right on time at noon and we spent about 2 hours packing the truck full with all the bikes, parts, tires, etc that we've been saving since the last collection in April. When we got done the truck door was barely able to close. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped sort, pack and load the items.
Now we're getting ready for the Tau Beta Pi bike collection Nov 1-8 and Christian Help Toy Drive on Dec 17. We're looking for volunteers to collect, sort and rehab the bikes. Please come in or call to find out how you can help.
Happening today: Tonite - WVU "Up All Night" will be renting our pedal generator for this evening's event. They are paying a (very) generous rental fee in appreciation of the loan. I've reinforced the stand on the old generator, and will try to have another one as well by tonite. Today I intend to purchase hardware to hang banners on the building, and hardare to finish the second pedal generator. (OTC at Lowe's or similar) I recommend the purchase of a Canon All-in-one printer from Office Depot. This would provide us with fax, scan, copy and additional printing (all duplex) capability. Final cost would be $100 with tradein of one of our non-working printers. See ad from Sunday paper, or visit officedepot.com:
I will be working on adding items to the Morgantown Year of Active Transport website, under our contract with the city. Simi has sent me her pictures, I've got other links, info, photos and events to add as well.
Today's Events: Yesterday Anne and her fellow Industrial Engineering students (6-8 of them at various times) spent a few hours in the afternoon and accomplished.... - Reinforcing the pedal generator - Drilling remaining hook holes in the wheel racks for the wheel room, just need to get the hooks (which I've ordered) - Vacuum straighten wheel rm, show room, shop - Scoured the parts room for parts to ship to Cumberland where we'll meet the Bikes for the World truck this Saturday. I'll be picking up my paycheck today, and repaying the $100 paycheck advance I gave myself a few days ago (as a starvation prevention measure - I promise not to do it again). John will be turning in approval statements to GMCT for my base salary so it isn't delayed in the future.
At the end of the day Nikki Appleford came in to help out and got all of our tires and wheels, plus a few more last minute items going to Bikes for the World loaded into a truck to take to the ware house. They'll be picked up tomorrow. We're looking for volunteers to help move and load stuff. If you've got time please join us at 145 Clay St in the downtown Morgantown waterfront.
This evening I'll be making a trip to the hardware store to get parts to finish another bike generator (maybe) and for Saturday volunteer jobs.
Coming events: Tonite - WVU "Up All Night" will be renting our pedal generator for this evening's event. They are paying a (very) generous rental fee. I'll be invoicing them. Tomorrow - Regular shop time 1-5pm Saturday. I'll be there about noon to get things ready. John has referred me to a Statewide organization who may ask me to speak at their conference at Stonewall Jackson resort the first week in Nov. I will be attending the "Alliance for Biking and Walking" training seminar entitled "Winning Campaigns" Nov 13-15. Bookkeeping: Amanda came in a few days ago and entered our GMCT transactions into a spreadsheet so we can reconcile the account with GMCT's statement. I will reconcile the Centra account today, there wasn't much activity on this one. It should go pretty quick.
Finances/purchase: Our accounts currently contain about $500 GMCT and $800 Centra. I've made the following recent purchases: bike hooks for the wheel room ($28 for 50 ordered from ronshomeandhardware.com) Parallel printer adapter to use with donated laser printer ($27.15 from sewelldirect.com)
