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.
This morning the Mon Bike Club riders took a memorial ride up Decker's Creek to the site of a memorial for Gene Vance, West Virginia's first soldier to be killed in battle since WWII. Vance was also an avid outdoorsman and worked for a time at Whitetail Cycles and outdoor sports. Many at the ride knew him and spoke of the inspiration he gave them for outdoor adventure. You can read more about his life and service at this link.
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=331603
On this Memorial Day please remember our troops in service, and those everywhere serving to eliminate the causes of conflict. Something to think about while you're riding or hiking on this beautiful day. Also found this NPR article from 2002: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=1143683&m=143683
Thanks to all the volunteers who came to help Wednesday (Tricia, Patrick, Diana, Mary from CCE). Thanks especially to all the volunteers who came through yesterday (Beth, Trent and Andrew) to finish stripping, prepping and loading bikes for our "Bikes for the World" shipment that went out today (Saturday May 29). Thanks especially to Mark from Sound Investments for driving everything to Cumberland this morning on a Memorial Day weekend. Mark and I left at 8am today to make the delivery that the volunteers loaded last nite. This was the scene when we got to Cumberland.
We had a surprisingly busy shop time when I got back. A number of people stopped by to donate more bikes, make repairs and tradeup bikes for growing kids. Thanks especially to Beth for showing up to volunteers, and to Max from the Farmer's Market for bringing by a big load of delicious salad greens in exchange for a replacement bike wheel. We are nearly out of showroom bikes, and our repair pile is getting too big. We need to get all repairs caught up by next week when I leave for North Carolina to teach elementary ed. bike classes. If you've got some time please stop by to help us get caught up. Thanks again,Nick
Late Addition: Here's the thank you note we received from Keith Oberg, director of Bikes for the World.
Way to go!! Many thanks and congratulations to all on accepting and overcoming the challenge arising from the hugely successful collection in Cumberland yesterday! 175 bikes plus valuable spare parts!!! Thank you Larry and Val, for leading the Cumberland Rotary effort. Thank you Nick and folks at Positive Spin, for trucking all those parts and bikes from Morgantown WV. Thank you Craig for preparing and leading the reception at our storage site in Northern VA. Thank you Kathy, JP, Tim, and Timmy Summers for providing the teamwork and muscle to transfer the 175 bikes, uncounted wheels, and other parts from the truck into storage. And especially thank you Phil for leading and holding things together from start to finish-securing, loading, driving, unloading, and returning a 26' rental truck with an immense and valuable load-a long day.
With this weekend's exceptional results, and a few more bikes anticipated to come in over the course of the next six days, we are ready to load a full and appropriate shipment for Costa Rica's Fundacion Integral Campesina (www.fincacostarica.org), a rural savings/credit/investment program, this coming weekend.
We're going to Cumberland! Mark from Sound Investments has graciously offered to truck our bikes to Cumberland again this year for the "Bikes for the World" Memorial Day collection. We'll be meeting him tonite at 5pm to load up and would welcome anyone available to help out. Meet us at the warehouse, in the Wharf District on Clay St. if you can help. There's plenty of work to do for as many people as we can get. Call the shop if you have questions. 304-276-0213.
Thanks,
Nick
Good evening,
Positive Spin will be shipping bikes to Cumberland (and the world) this weekend through Bikes for the World who will distribute them to developing countries to be used for basic transportation. We are seeking volunteers to help prepare the bikes for shipping. This consists of removing pedals, turning the bars and loading. If you can help please come to the shop after 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday). More details at the website:
www.positivespin.org
We are also looking for someone with a truck who can drive the bikes to Cumberland by Noon Saturday. Call 304-267-0213 if you can help.
Thanks!
Nick
Good morning,
I arrived back in town last nite around dinnertime and have been scrambling to catch up - on sleep, events and overdue work. I wanted to post this picture though. We always ask people to send us pictures of their bikes that they modify and this one from Shawn was pretty unusual. It started out as a Schwinn 10-speed. It now has a single-speed coaster-brake rear wheel, artfully laced. Handle bars have also been customized. Here are his comments: " It took me a little while to get a photo of it between taking finals and my girlfriend taking it out on bike rides, but here's the end result of the radical rebuilt '73 Schwinn, featuring a coaster brake in the back, hand brake in the front, complete with fenders and lights to make it a real fun commuter!"
Thanks for the pic Shawn!
This morning we received a call from an old friend, a Christian minister who came through with a cycling group las Summer. While they were here they sewed up our brown shop aprons, wrench pockets and stapler holder. These are items we use every day, and I've thought about them frequently and how I never had a chance to thank them again. I passed that on today. She let me know that she's been using the bike we traded to her, and is now looking for a little lighter one. I referred her to a local bike shop, but also told her that we'd look out for one here too.
More later.
Nick
Good morning,
My internet access has been limited this week so I haven't been able to update as often as I'd like. Since Monday the classes have been going well. We've ironed out the helmet distribution process, gotten more volunteers for marshalling the course and guiding the students through it. Several more students have learned to ride for the first time, and others have had such a good time in the class that they've gotten teacher permission to come back and help out during their study hall. On Tuesday nite I went riding with new road riders from the local bike shop (Eastern Panhandle Bike Company - Brian Weber prop). Here's the picture we took at the end of the ride, a beautiful 15 miler on backroads - it even smelled beautiful out there.
The kids in these classes have been great, even when they're trying not to be. My job is to teach and not to discipline so when there's a problem I send the student to the teacher. But my challenge then becomes to engage the students well enough so they are more interested in the lesson than in causing disruption. I'm working from a local coffee shop now where they've been feeding me custom salads and green smoothies along with the internet access. I'll be leaving tonite for Connecticut to judge the College HPV design/race competition. As I type this I'm thinking about all the friends I've made in this brief time - My homestay host Tim Hott, Brian from the bike shop, the teachers, students and baristas. I probably won't see most of them again, but it's good to know that if I do it will be meeting with happy memories. I'm tearing up a little now as I'm listening to "Who says you can't go home" on the radio. Will see you Monday when I get home. 'Til then I'll post as internet access permits. Have a great day, and a great ride to go with it.
Nick
It was the best of days, it was the worst of days. Shelley (the PE teacher) and I finally have the course curriculum down pretty well so that it works with well-behaved students. Not surprisingly the biggest behavior problems were with a group of students that don't ride or walk. Still trying to find the right memory card to upload pictures with. Maybe tomorrow. Weather was beautiful today, but only saw 2 bikes in the rack. One belongs to a young man named Kirk who rides every day on a too-small BMX bike. Haven't met the other student yet, the bike's a bit rusty so it may not be in regular use. Hard to believe that out of 600 students only 2 are biking, only a few more are walking. From informal surveys it appears that about half of the students live within a mile of the school but parents are afraid to let kids walk or bike because of fears of stranger danger and traffic. Hopefully when they see how many kids want to do it, they'll make the changes to get kids going to school under their own power.
Going for a ride from the local shop tonite with my host and the local shop owner. More tomorrow.
Nick
Good evening,
Just a few words before I nip off for a well-deserved good nite's sleep. Completed the first day of classes at North Middle School in Martinsburg. This was my first middle school experience, and it went well overall. Taught 2 kids who have never been able to ride before. The rest had varying levels of interest, I've been told that this is a difficult age to engage - but that's my challenge. I'll let you know how it goes. I continue to be amazed by how sparse the knowledge is about the basics of biking and walking safely. After kids learn to balance a bike their education seems to end - until now. So it looks like we'll have plenty of work for a while.
Special thanks to Shelly Ostrowski who invited us here, and Tim Hott who is putting me up while I work (so called). Also thanks to Brian Weber at Eastern Panhandle Bikes who has donated a beach cruiser for us to test market on the kids. Pictures tomorrow after we get things sorted out a little better.
My expenses and charges are being paid by a $75,000 Safe Routes to Schools grant that also constructed new sidewalks in front of the school - in an area that is otherwise almost devoid of bike/pedestrian amenities. This could be the start of something big. There is a large residential area around the school and nearly all of the kids have learned to ride bikes. Hopefully this will be the catalyst that gets them doing it daily. So far only 1-2 students ride (out of a population of 600).
