8 May - Welcome to Bike Month!

Good morning,
Yesterday we were interviewed by Channel 5 news about Bike Month.  Here's the link to the article.  There's been a lot more going on too, just haven't had time to post.  Last week students in the WVU engineering Senior Project class completed their solar assisted, pedal-electric car.  You can come see it at the shop. Special thanks to Bill Jones for all the help, advice and encouragement he gave these students.  It wouldn't have been possible without him.  The car has been donated to Positive Spin where it will remain on display.

In transportation news, there are currently three construction projects that are blocking access to bicycles on important routes.  They are:

- Landslide on the Mon River Trail between Seneca Center and Star City.  See the MRTC website for details.

- Utility construction on Mon River Trail at the Greer docks.  See MRTC website for details.

- Replacement of Ices Ferry Bridge on 857 at Cheat Lake.  This one is personal for me, see my discussion of the issue at this link.  The biggest obstacle to getting action on this issue is the lack of action from cyclists.  Things will only change if enough people demand change, they won't do it just for me.  If you need bike access through this corridor send your comments to the DOH at (link pending).

Bike to Work/School week is May 16-20, just a week away.  Start planning now.  Let us know if you're having an event and we'll post it here.

21 April - Happy Earth Day

Positive Spin information table at Student Sierra Club's "Green on the Green" festival.

Good morning,
Today is Earth Day.  Positive Spin's basic mission is creating a better world, starting with Morgantown and beginning with more sustainable transportation.  We're partners with many other environmental organization for this reason and yesterday all of the local environmental organizations were invited to the Mountain Lair to share our message with students.  I had to leave at 3:30 to get back to the shop and many more students were expected to view the displays later after the band was to begin playing.  The Daily had this article discussing the event.

Environmental Policy students discussing Positive Spin to their classmates

On the same day, students from Dr. Susan Hunter's Environmental Policy class were making their final presentation for their class project.  This has been the best group of student volunteers we've ever had the pleasure of working with.  I've put their presentation online at this link so I don't have to describe it in detail, but they've been an active part of 3 of our events in addition to putting on one of their own - and conducting transportation surveys and researching local government commitments to sustainable transportation.  Thanks to Ali Jeney who led the group, and to all the group members who went way above and beyond the call of their class to help spread the message and the actions that Positive Spin stands for. 
If you're looking for something Earthwhile to do today, consider coming to the Friends of Deckers Creek Spring Meltdown tonite at the WV Brewing Company in Morgantown.   Positive Spin has donated a Trek Hybrid bike worth $180 for their auction.

16 Apr - The Best Day Ever for Kids and Bikes

Good evening,
Just a quick note at the end of Tradeup Day.  I'd like to thank all the volunteers who helped make this our best event ever.  Here are some quick numbers to give you an idea of the joyful mayhem that transpired:
Bikes In - 75 (approx)
Bikes Out - 35 (approx)
First-time Learners - 10
Donations - $480
TV News Interviews - 2 (http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=97854 )
Volunteers - 20
Volunteer Hours - 120
These are all records - thanks to to our volunteers and members, and thanks to BOPARC for the great location.
We ended the day with a live jazz band - the Mountaineer Jazz Project - for everyone who stuck around to help straighten up afterwards. 

The Mountaineer Jazz Project trio performs for the volunteer after-party.

 The picture below shows how many (few) bikes we had left at the end of the day, and some of the bikes that were repaired during the day and are ready to be picked up by customers.

Empty showroom at the end of Tradeup Day

Customer bikes awaiting pickup

11 Apr - Thanks for a great Workday

Thanks to everyone who showed up to help for our workday on Saturday.  Here's everyone who helped (except for the ones I missed, please let me know if you aren't on here.  In all, 21 volunteers logged 110 hours.  This is the best participation we have ever had, but we expect to exceed it next Saturday on Tradeup Day.   Here's what they accomplished...

Bike Recycling

Zach Heusher, Kenny Rice supervising

Repair bikes (Tyler Coleman, Phil Korpeck, Yunmzauo Liang, Chris Confalore, Ashley Murray, Matt Cavalier)

Decorate bulletin boards (Erica Simmons, Claire Mueller)

Move tools, workbenches and parts out to new shop area when complete

Construction (Bob Hilling, Chris Jeney supervising)

Finish wall framing in new workshop

Hang OSB sheeting on workshop walls

Bathroom - Fix dropped ceiling frames, Install ceiling tiles, finish drywall (Seth Thompson, Tommy Hasserstab)

Hook up plumbing for water heater, sink, laundry, shower

General moving, organizing and transportation – Tyler Coleman, Carmen Colombo, Arathy Gowda, Zach Santer

Outside (Arnold Hall residents)

Abigail Crim, Matthew Motter, Eva Braun, Anthony Zalinsky

Pick up glass in parking lot

Sweep all pavement

Clean out trough under showroom garage door

Clean up litter and brush on hillside

Additional Thanks

Special thanks to Ali Jeney for organizing the students from Dr. Susan Hunter's Environmental Policy and Claire Mueller for organizing the Tau Beta Pi volunteers who helped with bike recycling and collection.

Thanks for sponsorship from area businesses:

Discounted building materials from Lowe's in Westover and 84 Lumber in Sabreton

Discounted lunch and refreshments from Kroger
Thanks also to volunteers who came in on Sunday (when the weather was beautiful outside) to help finish up a few things and straighten out in the aftermath.  Thanks also to the Environmental Policy students who handed out information and answered questions at the Amizade Water Walk. 

We'll still have a busy week getting ready for the Tradeup Day next Saturday, please come in and help out if you can.  We'll be working 9-5 Tuesday through Friday to get ready, and we can still use volunteers on Saturday.  And as always we can use more bike donations.  Call the shop if you can help out.
Thank you.

9 Apr - More about what we do, and how we do it

Good morning,
My last editorial, which I put here and in the monthly newsletter, generated a few email responses showing that others do recognize and appreciate what we do here.  Let me make a few suggestions to get these comments out where everybody can discuss them.  First, if you have comments about anything mentioned in the newsletter or the blog please post them in the comments here.  That way everyone can benefit from your thoughts and the exchange will help us direct our efforts where they will do the most good, and inspire others - even those in other cities.
Now, about how we do things.  In the absence of a discussion forum I've made many decisions and taken many actions on my own.  But that doesn't mean I'm doing them surreptitiously.  I've lived in 5 different states in my lifetime, all of them were among the 10 most bike-friendly in the country.  (WV is 48th this year).  In my home state of Wisconsin, in particular, I've seen conditions for biking rise from what they were in 1975 (similar to the conditions in WV now) to some of the best in the country.  I know some of the people who were instrumental in that long, slow change and they've talked to me about how they did it.  In addition I get input from the national organizations that we are members of - the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) and the Alliance for Biking and Walking (ABW).  These organizations collect and distribute "best practices" and demographic information to help all cities get the tremendous benefits that come from supporting non-motorized transportation (not just recreation).  And every year I attend the LAB Bike Summit in Washington DC where advocates, planners and participants share what they've learned in their localities about what works best for non-motorized transportation.
The only place where I don't get a lot of input is Morgantown.  Sure, there are a few people who have made comments.  But I want this to be a lively (and friendly) discussion - I don't need to hear myself talk, but I'm happy to share what I know when it can help.  So please use the comment feature of this blog and share your interests, hopes, plans and opinions on what we can do with the resources we have to make Morgantown transportation more sustainable.
Thank you for your passion, concern and action.
Nick

7 Apr - What We're About

Recently I've talked to a few individuals who had a fundamental misconception about what we do at Positive Spin and I thought I might be able to clarify things here. Our mission statement is: "We provided service and support to area citizens who choose sustainable transportation to make Morgantown more livable." Our goal statement is: "To reduce motor vehicle traffic in Morgantown by 80% before 2040." Nowhere in these statements does it mention anything about money. That's because we treat money as a tool to accomplish our mission and attain our goal. A few people have implied that selling bikes, asking for dues, soliciting donations and charging for memberships somehow tarnishes their perception that we are doing this for charity. However, just because we are a non-profit doesn't mean we are a charity - in fact charity is very low on our list of priorities. Most people are driving themselves to bankruptcy - one unnecessary car trip at a time. It costs $1/mile to operate a car, of which 70 cents comes from the owner (fuel, insurance, repairs, etc) and 30 cents comes from the community where the car is operated (paving, lost tax revenue, emergency services) and many non-monetary costs are incurred like air/water quality loss, environmental damage, road-kill, degraded health and added weight.
When you ride a bike you save yourself $1/mile in improved health alone. The savings for walking are more like $4/mile. In addition you avoid the driving costs (saving $10,000/yr by some estimates) there are many non-monetary benefits like calmness, more free time and better sleep. Positive Spin can teach anyone how to save large amounts of money. We provide service and education to help anyone achieve these savings and benefits. Anyone who recognizes what we are offering won't mind making a donation to Positive Spin as a percentage of the money they save. We're still waiting for this idea to sink in. In the meantime we're recycling bikes, charging dues and asking for monetary donations to pay the bills that come with having a building where we can provide the services that provide these benefits. The money that we collect isn't making anyone rich. In fact because of the move last year I've been unable to pay myself anything since November. With Spring riding weather arriving we've seen our revenue start to grow, but only to the point where we can pay past-due bills. There still isn't enough to pay a salary yet. In the meantime I'm doing administrative, management and mechanic work for free that would earn me a large salary (paid gratefully) at most for-profit businesses.
Many of you have expressed gracious thanks for the work that I do. I appreciate that greatly, but the thing that would mean the most to me is to see members of the community take over the administrative work and get more involved in the long-term planning and conduct of business here. Sustainable transportation is important enough that the business that serves as its most enthusiastic advocate should have more than one voice. If I leave would you want to lose what I've helped start, or are you willing to be part of seeing that it continues? 
LATE UPDATE:  Joe Sallmen has volunteered to be treasurer!   Is there anyone else who can help?  We need a volunteer coordinator, Secretary, Membership chairperson and Board Chairperson.

1 April - Cool Posts About Sustainable Transportation

Good morning,
For April Fool's day I thought I'd pass on some interesting links found on other blogs that relate to biking, walking or sustainable transportation.  I hope you find something that inspires you.

- Articles about Biking from Grist Magazine

- "Life Happens When You're Biking" Essay contest.

- Olympic Velodrome Completed for London Olympics

- Rising Gas Prices make this a great time to break the oil addiction
.