Mar 3 - It's starting already?!

This evening we had our first bike sale since Christmas, a woman buying a good bike for her husband on his 50th birthday tomorrow.  He bought her a bike for her last birthday and she's looking forward to going out riding together.  Hope he likes it, it was a beautiful bright red GT mountain bike - sweet ride!  Several other customers were in today and may be buying bike(s) tomorrow.  We'd stockpiled about a half dozen bikes to prepare for a busy Summer, but at the rate things are going we'll need a lot more donations to keep up.  If you have good bikes at home that aren't being put to good use please consider donating them to us - it's fun, empowering and tax-deductible.
Tonite we received notice that Bikes for the World will be doing their annual collection and pick up in Cumberland, MD in association with the Cumberland Rotary Club.  They've asked us to bring out our excess bikes to help provide basic transportation in developing countries, as we've done for the past few years.
During ship time tonite Pete (from Waynesburg) got our next pedal generator going, this is the one with the professionally-machined roller.  It works like a champ!  Thanks Pete. The generator will be going to a paying customer as soon as I can get him on the phone.
As I was closing shop tonite a young gentleman named John came in to volunteer.  He's enrolled at WVU for Summer but has lots of time to help out until then and a passion for working on bikes.  He's new in town having moved here from LA, if you see him he may ask for help finding work or moving furniture - help him out if you can.  We want to keep this guy around, he shares our passion for pedalled transportation.  In LA he volunteered at Bike Wave, another community bike shop.
Have a great nite!
Nick

Mar 2 - Getting things rolling

Today I purchased helmets, lights and bike pins to use in our Spring bike/ped classes.  These are vendors we have been using for a while so they recognize our name when we call and ask us how things are going.  I don't really know how to answer this question yet.  While awareness of biking and walking is on the rise, we don't have a way to measure it yet.  The things we do measure, like how many volunteers show up on a regular basis, are small and increasing slightly - enough to give some encouragement.  Wouldn't it be great if there were a huge outpouring of support though?  If you're in  a position to do so please renew your membership, volunteer your time and tell all your friends to do the same.  A big shift in the number of people walking and biking might be what it takes to keep our last 2 remaining neighborhood grade schools (Woodburn and Suncrest) and improve their non-motorized access.  This is a current and critical issue.
Tomorrow at 9 AM we'll be at MTEC with 2 of our WVU MDS Capstone students to give basic bike repair/maintenance instruction, and talk about having the students work together painting bike frames.
Thanks for your support!  Nick

1Mar - Start of the bike/ped Education Season

Good morning,
If you've been following things here or in the shop you've heard me mention that we now have classes lined up in 2 WV schools (Charleston and Martinsburg) as well as Apex NC in June.  In addition we have local bike rodeos for MCCAC, Ridgedale School, Girl Scouts and of course Tradeup Day April 17.  Although those days may seem far away it's we have to start ordering helmets, pins, literature and lights for those events now so we have time to get them shipped here, and before they run out.  Our income from recycled bikes is almost nothing at this time of year, so this is a shameless plea to ask you to renew your membership or make a donation to help us pay for these items.  Also, if you have spare time please come in and work in the office to help apply for grants and assist with the planning for the year.  It's mostly me and I could really use the help and encouragement.
Yesterday's Dominion Post featured this letter from a visiting Nebraskan who was appalled by the poor state of snow clearing in our fair city and gave a few suggestions for improving it.  It serves as a good reminder that, although Mountaineers should always be free to work for their own future, no one is free from the responsibility of ensuring the safety of those around them - other motorists, pedestrians and cyclists who need to get places too.

25 Feb - a busy day in the office

Good evening,
Between naps to sleep off a cold I decided to stay in the office today and clean out old emails and follow up on leads that have been piling up for the past few weeks.  Here's a sample of what transpired;
Allliance for Biking and Walking is offering to donate a van to a bike/ped non-profit who makes the best case for needing it in their operation.  Turns out today is the deadline, our application is IN and has been acknowledged.  No guarantees on this, but I think we have a good case.
Rock Forge Neighborhood House has had us over to give bike/ped safety classes in the past, now that we have a new curriculum and need to try it out we've scheduled tentatively for Monday March 15.  We could use volunteers for this, especially if you have a truck or van to cart bikes to the site.  They have an indoor gym where we'll set up the course.
The Green Riders of Palo Alto will be passing through Morgantown in June on their continent-crossing electric bike ride and they  contacted us today to feature us on their blog and in their video when they are in town.  We will probably be presenting at Mon Cty Library's Green Night when they are here.
WV Safe Routes to Schools - On Monday we met with  coordinator Becky Davisson, she informed us that the many schools in the state who have gotten funds to build sidewalks are now looking for a way to provide the bike/ped safety instruction required by the grant.  Since we have the only instructor in the state (and possibly region) this means lots of opportunities to present classes and certify new instructors.  I set up one class in Charleston and have been asked to do another in Martinsburg.  Volunteers will be needed to support these trips.
Morgantown High School Young Democrats  - Lastly, Josh called to invite us to exhibit at their green night at the school on Friday March 26.  This is bike drive week so we may ask attendees in advance if they can bring out bikes to donate.  We'll bring our bike generator to power bike videos - we'd like to have one made about us if there's anyone out there who would do that.
More tomorrow.
Nick

19 Feb - Velomobiles for the 21st Century

Good morning,
This article was written by a friend of mine, more eloquently than I could ever put it.  Check it out.
http://urbanmobilityproject.blogspot.com/2010/02/velomobile-21st-century-eco-solution.html
Nick

16 Feb - Welcome to Winter

It's good to remember at times like this when the snow starts piling up, that the roads were built and paid for by all people - not just the ones in cars.  That means that everyone is has a right to use them, not just the ones in cars.  The legal "right of  way" means that when there's a way to get somewhere, everyone has a right to safe use of it.  This is a shared right  - not an exclusive one.  If you're driving it means that if the sidewalks are impassable on a given street, if they don't exist or haven't been shovelled for example, pedestrians have a right to use the road and motorists have a responsibility to give them safe room and slow down if necessary to give everyone time to react and adjust to each other.
Of course motorists should drive at or BELOW the speed limit.  Apparently it isn't obvious to everyone that a posted speed is an UPPER limit, not a lower one.  Also, bikes have the right of way on public roads at this time of year just like any other.  Every public road is already a bike lane.  This may mean it takes a few seconds longer to get where you're going, take the time to relax a little.  That will benefit everyone too.
Nick

26 Jan - City Council Meeting 6:30 tonite to discuss Pedestrian Plan

Good morning,
If you haven't already made your plans for this evening please consider coming out to the city council meeting at City Hall where the budget for the next year will be discussed.  A major sustainable transportation initiative to be discussed will be the Pedestrian Plan and fee proposed by the Pedestrian Safety Board.  The board is asking your support, here's Christiaan Abildso's email describing what you can do.

1) Tues, Jan 26 6:30 - City Council meeting to develop budget priorities (Don Spencer will propose the fee as a priority)

---I will attend to encourage ped plan/fee prioritization; not many others need attend

2) Thurs, Jan 28 6:30 - Public Forum hosted by the DP re: plan/fee - South Middle School auditorium

---Bill & I will present the plan

***!!!we need as many as can be there to be there!!!***

 

In other news, we are continuing to write grant applications to help get funding to cover our operating costs now that we've gone beyond just bike recycling.  Eventually we expect to get sustaining income from memberships, consulting, education programs, etc - but we are now in the organizational phase known as "capacity building".  For this funding we are looking to city, county and foundation grants.  Naturally the easiest programs to get funded are the ones that we are already doing, so our focus is on bike riding/repair skills and trip planning.  If you'd like to help draft these proposals, which are due in the next few weeks, we could really use your help.

Additionally we are receiving a large amount of student volunteer help from the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) Multi-Disciplinary Studies (MDS) teams and individuals.   We can also use help supervising these volunteers.  Call the shop for details.

Special thanks to Jessica Weber, a new WVU grad student in Public Administration who has volunteered her time and energy.  Jessica spent the past year as an intern for the Alliance for Biking and Walking in Washington DC.  Although her time is limited, her energy doesn't seem to be and we look forward to working with her.

Let's make the 2010 the year we "Bike and Walk to Break Gridlock"!

20 Jan - Good reading

A couple of new book have arrived at the Positive Spin Sustainable Transportion library and are available for viewing or checkout:
"How to Live Well Without Owning a Car" by Chris Balish
"Bicycle Design" by Mike Burroughs

These are in addition to some other titles that may interest you:
"Effective Cycling" by John Forrester
"Human Powered Homes"
"Pedaling Revolution"
"Bicycling and the Law"
"Traffic Skills 101/102" from the League of American Bicyclists

There are some childrens' books for the younger crowd:
"Sally Jean the Bicycle Queen"
"Mike and the Bike"
"Michael Recycle"
"Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race"

And we have various videos on bicycling, bike repair and bike safety.
Come in and check them out, and volunteer while you're here.
Nick

19 Jan - Update

There's too much new stuff going on to just talk about one topic.  So here's the rundown.
- This morning we helped out in a workshop at MTEC teach bike mechanic skills to students in Scheryll Richard's class.  Special thanks to Rob Voorhees, the local Cannondale rep who donated his time/tools/skills to organize and conduct the session.  From now on we'll be showing up regularly on Thursdays to cover a new subject and work with the students rehabbing bikes for the shop.  We are in need of donations of money, a workstand and wheel truing stand to equip the shop.  If you have any of these items sitting around unused please consider donating them.  Contact Positive Spin.
- Preparations are well underway for the Bike Skills classes to be taught at Apex, NC next month.  Last Friday I travelled to DC to assist with a class there that will be similar to the classes I'll give.  Special thanks to the Washington Area Bike Coallition for giving us this great experience.  We are now looking for volunteers to help with planning and organizing for the event.  If you can help out please contact the shop.
- We've received calls from our first "Community Service" volunteers of the semester.  In addition to working in the shop they'll be helping in the office - setting up our member database, email contact list and other tasks as needed.  Some of these students are doing the work for classes, others as atonement for various infractions - we're OK with that.  We'll make this the kind of punishment that keeps them coming back for more.

If you haven't been to the shop in a while, or you've never been, don't wait until you need a bike.  Come in for the tour and stay to help out.  If you want to come in outside posted hours just call and make an appointment.  And just as a reminder that we're about more than just bikes, check out this article showing the savings for riding a bus.

13 Jan - Alliance grant is complete, Next task....

I've just sent in the application for the Alliance's Advocacy Advance Grants.  This is the preliminary round, if we're selected at this stage then we'll have to turn in a final application in March.  Thanks to those of you who helped with this round.  However, the work isn't done yet.  We've just received applications from the city and county where money is available.  These deadlines are coming up quick, if you can help out with the applications please don't hesitate to call.

Today is another great day for riding while the temps are still below freezing.  By tomorrow it will warm up and the melting will leave a salty, mushy mess in its path but it will be the first time we've gotten above freezing in a few weeks.  Hope you're all enjoying it where ever you are.  This weekend I will be travelling to Washington DC to get a taste of what it's like to try and teach bike/pedestrian skills to unruly mobs of K-5 schoolkids.  This is in preparation for the classes we'll be teaching in Apex (Raleigh) NC next month.  This is another task I can use help with.  This would be a particularly good job for any physiology or phys. ed. students who want to see what a gym class setting will be like to deal with.  Again, if you can help please call the shop.

Just for fun, if you want to see some outrageous bowling check out this video. 

12 Jan - It's Grantwriting Season

It was a beautiful day for biking in the snow, well for some of us anyway.  For the rest of you, if you've got some time for sitting around and are looking for something really helpful and rewarding to do, how about helping us write grant applications for the following funding sources:

Morgantown Community Block Development Grants (Due Feb 8)Mon County Grants (Due Early March)
Alliance for Biking and Walking:  Advocacy Advance Grants (Final App due Mar 3)

We've applied for grants in the past, but so have lots of other people and we need your help to make a compelling case for why we're the best investment for these limited funds.  If you have time and, particularly if you have experience, please call the shop and find out what you can do.  Also, feel free to make comments on this post if you can suggest people or other resources that might be helpful.  Chances are that the changes you make possible will stay in the community for a long time to come - better health, safer streets, cleaner air and a nicer place to live, work and get around.

Thank you,
Nick

11 Jan - Pedestrian News

This past weekend I travelled to Charleston, WV to offer assistance to a group who are starting a community bike shop there in the Habitat for Humanity - Restore.  They have a great looking facility, even includes heat and decent lighting.  If anyone reading this list is in that area please consider volunteering to help them out.  I'll have contact details soon.  Otherwise lookup Zoe Beavers, the force behind the organization.

Tonite after returning the rental car I walked downtown on Willey St from the Mileground and started thinking about how much room has been left for improvement in this corridor.  There is NO sidewalk for most of the way, and the road is so narrow that you are left no choice but to stop traffic until you can get to a safe place to pull aside.  The sidewalks that there are haven't been shoveled (in violation of unenforced city ordinance) so it's still a sub-optimal experience at best.  Since the Pedestrian Safety Board meeting was planned for 4pm today I made that my destination.  The discussion at the meeting was mostly focused on the new pedestrian plan for Morgantown and how to present the $1/ft assessment as an investment that will end up raising housing values and saving costs that more than offset it.  I promised to supply a link to the PLAN and to the PETITION if support you can sign.  Next month the city council votes on putting it in the budget (Jan 26 at 7pm in the council chambers) - your presence at the meeting would help let the city know that this is a priority.  Find more information at our website link.

Jan 6 - Welcome to the New Year

Positive Spin re-opens its doors today after the holiday, we hope you'll be dug out of the snow and can come by to help out with the new projects we have going on for the Winter season and prepare for biking in the Spring.  There are lots of exciting new opportunities to increase biking/walking and reduce traffic congestion.  In the next few days we plan to have a newsletter out describing some of them, but don't wait.  If you want to help make big changes in Morgantown transportation call anytime.

Note:  Our regular shop cellphone has gone missing (I lost it).  Until it turns up you can contact the shop on my personal cellphone at 304-685-8954.

Dec 22 - Happy Holidays

Yesterday's Dominion Post had this editorial from a beleagered Morgantown pedestrian.  If you can relate, consider volunteering with us to help raise pedestrian awarenes.  If you drive, observe the posted speed limits and give all your attention to driving and watching out for others - even if they're not in a car.

With the Christmas Bikes behind us and the holiday break ahead, it's time to reflect on the year past and plan for the year ahead.  I am in the process of drafting our 2010 event/milestone calendar (thanks to WVU student volunteer Harry Shaffer for putting it on the web).  If you have an event you'd like us to participate in please send me an email with information (date, time, description) and we'll add it to the list.
We are still looking for qualified and committed boardmember volunteers who are passionate about transforming Morgantown transportation in ways that make our city more liveable, sustainable and inclusive of all citizens.  Contact me if you share our passion and can contribute your time and resources.
I'll be on vacation and the shop will be closed from Dec 24 to Jan 6 (resuming normal Winter hours Jan 7), but I'll have the phone with me in case you need to reach me.  I'll be travelling (in a rented car) to see family in Wisconsin and plan to post updates as time permits.  I wish the best to you, your family and all your loved ones.  I look forward to working with you in the new year in positive and joyful ways that improve our city with the best and most sustainable mobility.
We've got a couple of great new volunteers joining us in the New Year.  Duncan, an experienced shop mechanic and mountain biker will be helping supervise shop hours.  Jessica, a WVU Masters' student in Public Administration will be helping us out.  She's particularly welcome after her previous experience as an intern at the Alliance for Biking and Walking.  We're grateful to them for sharing their passion for sustainable transportation and making Morgantown a better place to live and get around.

Dec 17 Christmas Bikes Distributed

Our 5th annual bike giveaway is now complete.  Due to your efforts we donated 70 bikes to Christian Help for the toy drive.  An additional 5 new bikes were dropped off by other donors for a total of 75.  At the end of the day we only had to bring back 15 of them, meaning that 60 were given away, about the same as last year.  However, most of the leftovers were in sizes we had too many of.  Next year we need more 24 and 26" mountain bikes. The surplus bikes (mostly 16 and 20") are available to other charity programs.  If you know a family that needs a bike for a small child please stop in.  We can help you out.

Thanks to volunteers from: WVU Tau Beta Pi, WVU Mortar Board, WVU Industrial Engineering students, Our regular volunteers, People who heard about what we're doing and just pitched in and anyone I may have missed.

Thanks also to Christian Help for getting us involved (our 5th year!) and particularly to Cheryl Stout whose divine efforts make it possible for families in need to have their needs met with joy and dignity.
Nick 

16 Dec - It's finally here. The Christian Help Toy Drive

Good evening,
We've just finished taking all our bikes to the armory for the Christian Help Toy Drive at the Morgantown Armory.  The total is somewhere around 75, although in the mayhem of transporting them I wasn't able to get a final count.  Tomorrow I will, I'll be up there early and staying through the day.  If anyone would like to come and help out with inspections, minor repairs and fittings give me a call at the shop number.  I'll have photos up tomorrow.  Thanks to all our incredible volunteers who made this the biggest and best bunch of bikes we've ever delivered.  Particular thanks to Duncan Oliver (and his very patient and helpful girlfriend), Will Ravenscroft, a slew of CCE volunteers too numerous to mention and to Pathfinder who gave us generous discounts on last-minute part purchases.  Thanks also to George Lasnier who picked up and transported bikes throughout the drive and to Bill Jones who helped tonite getting bikes to the armory. 
Nick

12 Dec - Copenhagen conference

Good evening,
On Saturday we were invited to a candle light vigil at the Courthouse to help campaign for a <350ppm treaty at the Copenhagen World Climate conference.  It only seemed sensible to us (myself and Duncan Oliver, our new shop mechanic) that we bike to the event and bring along our pedal generator to shine a (LED) spotlight on the event banner.  However, we made the news in today's Dominion Post.  You can read the article here.

When it was our turn to talk we also encouraged everyone to do their part for carbon dioxide reduction by driving less and using sustainable transportation (walking, biking, transit and carpool) to get where you need to go.  Thanks to all of you who are already doing this.  If you must drive, you can still make the roads more fun for others by driving at or below the speed limit and paying attention to others who are sharing the road.  Even if they aren't in cars.

Dec 9 More Christmas Bike

Dec. 5

It was snowing this morning when I woke up, but I had something to deliver to a friend in Osage so I took our best-equipped all-weather bike to make the trip.  Turns out that it was no match for wet slush-slop snow.  In the short space of the 12 mile ride the bike gained about 50 lb of water weight, eventually the drivetrain became so clogged with snow that the chain couldn't engage.  This meant I had to walk the last 2 blocks to the shop.  It gave me pause to think about how ill-adapted conventional bikes are to adverse weather.  Otherwise it was a beautiful day to be out.  The traffic was light due to slippery conditions and it was blissfully quiet on the roads.

     Later in the day we opened the shop with about 10 volunteers from the Center for Civic Engagement.   These are students with a service-learning obligation - either for a class assignment or as the result of an infraction. They were an excellent bunch of students and helped us finally get to our goal of 70 bikes rehabbed for the Christian Help toy drive next week.

Nov 30 - Meeting a good friend

Today I was walking along the trail by the riverfront and bumped in to Bill Metzger, an old friend from Confluence, PA.  I first met Bill during the 2004 Mayors' Ride Relay from Washington DC to Pittsburgh.  The ride organizer, Troy Bogdan, had told Bill we'd be coming through and staying the nite.  Bill is a map maker, photographer and magazine illustrator and historian.  His day job is writing for "Railroad' Magazine, but he's also the author of all the Pennsylvania lettered routes for bicycling.  He was out for a ride with his wife Pam, also an avid biker.  Bill has progressive muscle degeneration in his legs, which has meant he has slowly had to go from a bike to a recumbent trike to a hand-trike.  But it hasn't slowed him down any.  He showed me the mileage on his odometer - 12500 miles in the past year or so.  We talked for quite some time about all our various interests and enjoyed the peace and sun by the river.  They get to travel extensively with his job, researching various historic train routes.  A train went by on the other shore while we were talking and he told me what every horn blast signal meant.

Nov 29 - Thanks for everything

Good evening,
I didn't think it would be fair to let Thanksgiving go by without giving thanks to these people and organizations who have been an immeasurable help throughout the year - contributing time, talent, money, passion and inspiration toward making Morgantown's transportation more sustainable.  Please forgive me if I left you out, and don't be too shy to let me know if I forgot to list you.

Businesses
Pathfinder Cycles - James, Gabe, Andy, Andrew, Shane, Steve
Wamsley Cycles - Chip, Colin, Jeremy, Steve, Matt, John
Adventures' Edge - Jan Kieger
These businesses provide us with parts and service throughout the year.  They also offer a 10% discount to our members on regularly-priced merchandise.

Organizations
Morgantown Municipal Bike Board - Frank, Derek, Marilyn, Don and others
Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board - Christian, Jonathan and others
Mountain Line Bus Service - Dave Bruffy and his staff
WVU Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
WVU Transportation Dept - Hugh Kierig
WVU Office of Sustainability - Clement Solomon
WVU Office of Recycling - Barbara
WVU Center for Civic Engagement - Kristi Wood-Turner and staff
BOPARC - Marc Wise and a merry band of office and field staff
Morgantown City Traffic Commission
Morgantown County Commission
Mon County Schools
These organizations are doing the planning, designing, construction and refining of government and institutional facilities to make Morgantown transportation more sustainable.

Individuals
Will Ravenscroft, John Lozier, Chase Hixson, Nancy Scheuerman, Bill Reger-Nash, Councilmembers Don Spencer and Jenny Seline, Mayor Bill, Former Mayor Ron Justice and many more
These individuals have helped in the shop, at events and advocating for transportation that creates better mobility and living quality.  A special thanks to all our members, your dues help provide us with a steady base of funding that supports our activities and advocacy.  Thank you again - and again, and again....

Nov 24 Items for Sale

Good morning,
Throughout the year we tend to accumulate excess items, either from donations or items that are ordered and not needed.  This is the time of year we like to clean house, it has the added benefit of providing us funds to help fix Christmas bikes and support our operating costs at a time of the year when donations are down.  If any of these items are something you need please call 304-276-0213. We also appreciate your donations (bikes, parts, volunteer time or cash) at this busy time of year.  Cash donations can be made through our PayPal link at the website (positivespin.org)
(See updated list at this link)

Nov 22 - Update on Christmas Bike Drive

Thanks to everyone who has donated bikes for the Fall drive to support the Christian Help Toy Drive coming up in December.  We've collected over 200 bikes, 44 of which came in on one day.  We now have about 50 of them ready to send out but hope to rehab at least 20 more to beat last year's contribution of 70 bikes.  If you or your group would like to do a service project please contact us at 304-276-0213 and schedule a time to come in.  This week would be a great time to do it, since it's pretty quiet with students gone home for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Most of the work doesn't require bike skills.  It's mostly cleaning and primping the bikes to make them look like something a kid will be excited to find under their Christmas tree. The final days before Dec 17 will be extremely busy as we give bikes their final check and transport them to the Armory for the event and vehicles will be greatly needed and appreciated.
Also, if you know someone who needs a bike and wouldn't be able to get one otherwise you can contact us also since we have extras.  Thanks again to the entire community for the tremendous support we've received every year - and thanks for relieving traffic in Morgantown by using sustainable transportation.
Nick

Nov 21 - A new appreciation for biking

I've been working with Otho for the past few weeks to help him re-learn how to ride a bike in the face of MS that has been progressing over the past 5 years.  Today we had our third session - in the first he learned to ride and made a few short runs.  Yesterday he got on the bike himself and showed that he could start/stop by himself and turn around in the width of the trail.  Today it was time to really go somewhere.  He rode from the Seneca Center to Star City and back nearly unaided.  I did give him a little push at the end as he got tired toward the end.  However, that doesn't diminish the fact that when he rides he looks as able-bodied as anyone else.  He was jubilant after the ride, talking about the feel of the wind in his face and the sounds around him - all under his own power.  I can't take much credit for his success, he did all the hard work while I just gave a little guidance and encouragement.  I think with more riding he'll get stronger and be able to ride further without help, although he's considering a trike for times when he doesn't have the strength or control to power a bike.  Congratulations Otho!

 

 

Nov 11 - Happy Veterans' Day

It's been a few weeks since the last post. Here's what's happening.
Fall Bike Drive: Anne Mallow and Tau Beta Pi have been doing a great job on publicity and George Lasner and Will Ravenscroft have been picking up bikes as the calls come in. We've collected over 100 bikes so far and are still getting about 15/day. Already 30 bikes are ready to go, but we'd like to beat last year's number of 70. If you or someone you know has bikes to donate please mention us. If you have an organization that needs a service project, contact us and we'll get you in here to clean and repair the donated bikes.

Board Development: Chase Hixson has taken over this activity. We've had 3 meetings to try and elect officers but there haven't been enough attendees to fill the vacancies, leave alone vote. If you or someone you know wants to see less gridlock on Morgantown streets and is willing to serve on the board to make that happen, contact me or Chase via the info@positivespin.org email address.

WVU Multi-modal Center: While I was in the neighborhood this morning I looked in on the bike room to see if it's getting used. There's one bike in there, I addded mine and took the picture that you see above. Security cameras are still awaiting installation, but otherwise everything is ready to use. Try it out!
Nick

Oct 29 - Planning for the city, Working in the country

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

Oct 28 Riding and Meeting

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.

Oct 28 - WVU Mountaineer Station Updates

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.

Board Meeting tonite

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.

Oct 23 - Working from the farm

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

Oct 21 - Mountaineer Station Opens

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.

Oct 18 Update

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

Oct 16 - Working away

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.

Oct 15 - Here Comes the News

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.

Oct 14 Update

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.

Oct 13 Update

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.

Oct 12 Update

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.

That's all for today.
Nick

Oct 10 Update

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.

And get out and ride once in a while.
Nick

Oct 9 Up All Night - Pedalling

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)

March 4 - Newsletter is in the works

Good evening,
Things have been busy at the shop and we're working on a newsletter to let you know more details. We've been gradually working down the pile of donated bikes, many of them still lingering from the Christmas collection. We want to make room to start building floats, bike machines and other chicanery for the "Step it Up" parade. The purpose of the parade is to build excitement in the community to make positive climate change, and tell our lawmakers to enact legislation that protects and improves our environment. If you're in an community or environmental group please consider entering a display or float in the parade. If you know of a youth group that would like to get involved we're looking for kids to enter a bike-decorating contest and show off their work on the parade route.

We'll have another trade-up day on April 28 when kids can trade in their old bike for one that fits their growing body (or changing needs) for a $10 minimum charge. This was a big success for us last year, especially rewarding because we got to teach a couple of kids to ride for the first time. We plan to promote it more widely this year so we'd like to have all the volunteers we can get in the event of a large turnout. Please call the shop if you can volunteer before or during the event.

Don Ravenscroft is putting 2 bikes together to make a 4-wheeled pedal car. This is one of several projects Don has done for the shop, including the pedal generators. At over 80 years old Don is an enjoyable and interesting guy to have around the shop, whether he's sharing his design insights or telling war stories from his time in the Pacific theatre during WWII maintaining B-29 aircraft.

As always volunteers are needed to keep bikes going out to charities, and developing our programs. Call us (276-02130 or just show up during open times if you can help out.

Nick Hein
Director

Feb 3 - Latest News

Just wanted to post a few items of recent news:
Friday Feb. 2 - Critical Mass ride. It was cold, snowing and the roads were sloppy and icy. This is the weather I remember riding in every Winter day when I was a kid in Southern Wisconsin. It made me nostalgic, but I must have been the only one since no one else showed up. Next ride is Mar. 2 and the weather should have a broader appeal. (Saw my son biking to work during the ride - a proud moment!)

Saturday Feb 3. - Tau Beta Pi will be coming to the shop for a workday. We also have members and volunteers expected so it will be a busy time. Always welcome on cold days, to warm the place up. We're working on fixing bikes up for tradeup day (April 28) and regular donation through Christian Help, who have been passing them on to car-free and homeless clients as needed.

Other recent events:
This week we gave bikes to 3 construction workers. One of them brought in an old Huffy full-suspension mountain bike which he claims to have ridden 12,000 miles on - all up and down the East Coast. Appearance of the bike and rider support his claim.

Dave brought in an art-spoked wheel to show off. I'll try to get a picture for the next blog report.

Hanna Wheeler is organizing a "Step-It-Up" parade for Earth Day in April. Details will be up on he website soon, but she'd like to encourage anyone with a bike (or walkers with signs) to join the parade. If you want to build a float or special vehicle (strongly encouraged) start working on it now. The shop will provide surplus parts, bikes, materials and moral support. Thank you Hanna for stepping up to this challenge.

28 Jan Update - After the flood

Good evening,
I thought it would be appropriate to post events since the flood at our shop. The good news is we were back in business the next day, although it took another week for the carpets and walls to dry out. It was a warm and windy week, allowing us to keep the windows open. After it turned cold dehumidifiers were brought in to keep down the dampness. It seems to have worked, although there is still a musty smell when we open the shop after being closed a few days. We don't know if the landlord will remodel (we hope so, since all we would have them do is check the wiring and strip it to bare/painted walls, floor and ceiling). We're looking to clear out as much stuff as possible in case they do. We'd probably have to move out for a few weeks.

We've worked down our pile of strip bikes - the ones that aren't feasible to repair - and are now just fixing bikes up for tradeup day (April 28) and various charities. We have come to an informal agreement with Christian Help in downtown Morgantown. We provide them with bikes for their homeless or car-free clients on a running basis. This gives us an outlet for inexpensive bikes that we couldn't sell and wouldn't be worth shipping overseas.

Several other charities have contacted us with interest in bikes for kids. If you know an agency or needy family that would put a free bike to good use, have them contact us.

Tau Beta Pi will be coming to the shop Feb 7 for a workday.

Our "Safe Routes to Schools" application has been received by WVDOT and is in consideration.

Here's where we can use more volunteers:
Starting unfunded Safe Routes activities
Fixing bikes
Tradeup Day volunteers
Office assistance
Many, many more

Have a great day.
Nick Hein
Director

All's wet that ends well

Good evening,
On Jan 5 at 8:30 am I received a phone call from our landlord at Grand Central Station to say that there had been a water leak in the floors above our shop from a burst pipe and our shop was flooded. The accompanying picture is what greeted us when we opened the door. Thanks to heroic work by the building maintenance crews and a restoration company Positive Spin is back in business - for now. However, in the long term we'll need to vacate the building in the near future to allow replacement of the carpets, sheetrock and ceilings that got saturated and will need to be gutted.

As always, we can use volunteers to help us fix up bikes for local sale and donation. In addition, we're trying to get rid of surplus bikes from an embarassingly successful Christmas collection. If you know of non-profit groups that could use kids' bikes mention our name. We also have parts (pedals, tubes, tires, seats, etc) from our salvage stock.

We also appreciate any and all cash donations as we would like to have money to do any custom remodeling (beyond what the landlord plans) and to build out our new retail location.

We also have inexpensive adult bikes available for sale (donation). Proceeds will support our programs and projects.

Thanks for your continuing support.
Nick Hein, Director

Happy New Year - January1, 2007 update

Welcome to 2007,
I'm guilty again of letting the blog site go while we've worked on projects and programs in the shop. Here's what's happened...

Christmas bikes.
We had extremely good and positive press coverage in November that resulted in more than 200 donated bikes from local residents. 35 of these were repaired in time (and beautiful enough) for the Christian Help Toy Drive Dec. 14. Because this was more bikes than they've ever received they didn't have to be stingy with them. Families were allowed to count them as a small item, so they could get more than one/family. Two bikes went to a family whose house had burned to the ground, with the bikes under the house. I'm told this was a HUGE emotional boost to them.
We also sent 8 bikes to Scott's Run Settlement house with tremendous help from Tau Beta Pi.
We'd also like to thank Tau Beta Pi profusely for paying our shop bill for the repair effort. Thanks to their generosity we were able to buy new tires for the first time ever.

Safe Routes to School
There's a panic afoot on this one. I sent in the "Intent to Apply" form after having prepared it single-handedly. It was accepted and now the big job of preparing the final application (due Jan 15) starts. If you have any interest and experience in grant-writing we could use you. There are only 2 of us working on it now. We'd like another 3.

Generators
We now have parts lined up for making our generator design, all we need are volunteers to build them. We'd like to sell these to raise money for our other programs.

New location
In October BOPARC generously offered us space at the waterfront in a warehouse they are fitting out for various recreational groups. We will continue repairs and classes in our present location but this new space gives us a retail outlet to finance our operations.
With this new space we'll need to raise money to build out and equip it. We're considering a major fundraising event in February and we could use volunteers to help make it happen.
BOPARC will also be operating bike rentals for the trail from this location, with our cooperation.


THANK YOU!!!!
If you've donated bikes, time, money or inspiration this year we owe you a great debt of thanks. You're making a big difference to the citizens, visitors and charities in town with your passion and generosity. This morning the Dominion Post mentioned it specifically in Norm Julian's column. We're looking forward to another big year of making Morgantown ALL its citizens, not just the ones in cars. Wishing a Happy New year to you, your family, friends and your city.

Nick Hein
Director, Positive Spin

Back to School - August 30 Update

Another month has gone by already since the last post. Although things have been quiet on this blog, they've been very busy in the real world. We are in a critical time for any organization when the novelty has worn off, volunteers are called to other worthy groups and students from last year have graduated. It's time to stir up some enthusiasm that will bring in new volunteers, donations and ideas. These things have been trickling in up til now, we could use a flood of all three. Here's what's been happening that can help us.....

In June we shipped 160 bikes to Working Bikes in Chicago. Some were sold to pay for shipping, the rest were shipped to various needy countries worldwide for basic transportation.

In August we finalized our design for a bike generator, and came up with new ideas to use the energy (pumping, grinding, lifting). We have the materials to make a bunch of prototypes, all we need are the volunteers to put them together.

Last Friday and Saturday we supported the Sprint, Splash and Spin mini-triathlon with free bike inspections. We prevented a couple of certain accidents and made the ride more enjoyable (just by pumping up tires and oiling chains mostly) for everyone involved.

Last nite was the inaugural meeting of the Morgantown Bike Board. This board has been convened through the terrific efforts of Suncrest Councilman Don Spencer and is looking for ways to serve Morgantown's pedestrians and cyclists with better transportation corridors, education and advocacy. If you have ideas for the board contact a member via Don.

Tonite we were invited by Tau Beta Pi to share a table at the WVU freshman Engineering fair where we talked about our cooperative Christmas Bike Project. It was a great chance to meet new students who are interested in helping out in the community and learning about sustainable transportation.

We want to reach out in the non-university community as well. It's time to get going on Safe routes to schools but we need a parent volunteer in each school to act as the sparkplug. We can always use more volunteers for collecting and repairing bikes or doing office work around the shop.

We have new business cards and flyers in the shop. If there's a place where you can distribute them please come and get 'em. I can't tell you how many people have told me what a great idea this organization is, but volunteers that put the idea into action and we need more of you.

Thanks.
Nick Hein
Director, Positive Spin
Morgantown, WV

Summer time at Positive Spin

OK, so it's been 2 months now since the last update. Our bikes were well received in Chicago, some were sold at Working Bikes' retail shop to pay for our trip. The rest went all over the country and the world to help most where they would work best. Mountain bikes went to Guatemala, 26" bikes went to Cuba, street bikes went to Ghana. Working Bikes, founded and led by Lee Ravenscroft, does magnificent work in arranging the shipments. They also collect and warehouse most of the bikes themselves, as well as raising money for the shipments by fixing and selling recycled bikes. We're very lucky to be connected with them.

We would like to work further with them on other projects. Of the world's 6 billion people, 4 billion don't have electricity. We've come up with a simple design for a pedaled generator that could bring electricity to remote villages using bike frames and other salvaged parts would otherwise be thrown away.

We are also gearing up to get "Safe Routes to Schools" programs started in Morgantown. We would like to contact at least one parent in each Morgantown school and provide them with the organizing literature and support to teach and inspire kids to get to school under their own power, with the resulting benefits to personal and community health that can result.

All this depends on volunteers however. Now that a new school year is approaching please consider whether you can help us with a donation of bikes, funds or your time to support Morgantown citizens who bike and walk to make the town a better place for people. See the website at www.positivespin.org for all the ways you can help.

13 June Update

I can't believe it's been a month already since the last update, but it's been a busy month. Here's the list of what's happened.

- We were contacted by the new WV Safe Routes to Schools coordinator and have been asked to send an "intent to apply" form to indicate how we would like to spend state transportation funds to get kids going to school under their own power. We are looking for volunteers with grant writing experience to help us fill out this form. We are also beginning to apply to other sources for substantial funding.

- Last weekend we drove to Chicago with 160 of our bikes (plus parts) so they can be distributed to New Orleans and countries around the world that need them for basic transportation. This is how we will probably do all our shipments from now on. There were enough bikes in the shipment that can be sold at Working Bikes' shop to pay for the truck. The rest will go to developing countries in one of the 11 shipping containers that Working Bikes sends out every year. The timing for this shipment worked out perfectly - that same afternoon a truck showed up to take bikes to Guatemala and many of our bikes will go on it. Yesterday (Monday) Working Bikes (and some of our bikes) were featured on a Chicago TV News segment. See it at this link, includes a video link.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=community&id=4266619#

- Shop hours will continue to be 5-7pm Wed and 1-5pm Sat. Other hours by arrangement.

- After getting rid of all those bikes, I got home to hear that there are about 60 more that are being donated whenever we can take them. Please come volunteer this week to help clean up shop and fix these additional bikes.

- We are supporting Boys/Girls club for all their bike needs. We've fixed up 16 bikes and will be providing helmets and instruction for their regular rides. We could use volunteer help with this, if you can help please call the shop phone no. and we'll sign you up.


Thanks
Nick Hein
Director, Positive Spin

14 May update

Here's a photo from our first Mountaineer Mall Bike Rodeo. Kids were invited to bring their bikes decorated for judging, ride through a safety course and listen to talks from Officer Trump of the Morgantown Bike Police Patrol and Nick Hein of Positive Spin. It was a small turnout, but a great success judging from the kids smiles.











Happy Bike Week! To celebrate Positive Spin is selling bike pins for $1/each. These bright and attractive pins are a great way to get others to start seeing bicycles - not just as a fun way to exercise, but as a way out of gridlocked traffic. Proceeds will go to support our bike recycling and Safe Routes to Schools programs.










Preparations are underway for the second annual Bike to Work Day / National Bicycle Greenway Day in Morgantown. See the website for details. If you would like to join us for the ride from Morgantown to Pittsburgh, or any part of it, contact us (see website for contact info).