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
.

22 Mar - The MidMarch Special Edition Newsletter is out

Good afternoon,
With all the activity going on as the riding season approaches, I've posted a newsletter with reports from the Bike Summit, plans for workdays, bike collections and Spring Tradeup Day.  You can read the newsletter online at: http://www.positivespin.org/Newsletters/2011_03_SummitNewsletter.pdfat: In our new location we expect a lot more activity and we'll need more volunteers to serve everyone.  Please consider volunteering to help out on workdays, shop days and as a board member to help plan and keep things going throughout the year.
Right now, as we start construction on our new office and shop areas we need a plumber and electrician to help with the work before our volunteers come in to finish the walls.  If you can help please call the shop.  Construction starts this Thursday.

15 Mar - Back from the Summit

Good evening,
I arrived back from the Summit on Friday.  I can't say enough words of grattitude about my rides (Kim Coram of Parkersburg there, and Greg Good of DC/Morgantown on the return).  Thanks especially to my homestay hostess Elisabeth in DuPont Circle.  You can read the trip report online at this link.  Saturday we saw some customers and donors beginning to venture out into the Spring weather.  Now that Spring is officially upon us and the daylight lasts longer we expect more.  We'll be back to our regular hours this week - Wed 1-7pm and Thu-Sat 1-5pm. Hope to see you.
Some of you know about the transmission Kenny and I have been working on, I was able to show it to a couple of manufacturers at the Summit and they seemed to show genuine interest.  Now that I'm back I intend to get the transmission mounted on the bike that it was built for, and get out and ride it.
During the Summit I was particularly impressed by the talks about getting kids on mountain bikes whether for fun days, clinics or races.  It makes sense that parents will let their kids play in the dirt before they'll let them play in traffic.  I'm looking for anyone interested in helping plan a pilot event (working title "Take our sons/daughters to Dirt") possibly to be held in May, and focusing our youth instruction on MTB riding  rather than street riding.  If you love to work with kids and would like to be part of this please call the shop, or come by Wed Mar 22 at 7pm for an organizational meeting.
On a personal note, I have moved out of my temporary Cheat Lake home and am staying with friends until I can find another place that I can afford.  My preference is to rent a room in a home, within 5 miles of town but not in student housing.  If you know of someone who has an affordable place please contact me at the shop phone number.  And also remember that the best thing you can do for cycling is to ride, the second best thing is to take someone with you.
Nick

11 Mar - Riding the Summit

Good morning,
Today the delegates who were still around got together for a ride from the capitol building.  I used one of the Capitol Bikeshare bikes.  The people you see here are just a small sample of all the riders, I got to the start late so I didn't get a group photo.  There were probably 200 riders who turned out on this chilly (~40deg) cloudy morning.  We rode North along the route of the Red Metro subway line and then back on the trail that goes alongside it.  Had a great time talking to the riders, in the 3 days we've been here we've ate, talked, slept, walked and dreamed bikes.
Today we finally got to ride some.  I'll be heading back in about an hour.  Looking forward to seeing you in the shop tomorrow.

10 Mar - Lobbying Day

Good morning,
Yesterday we heard speakers and seminars on various aspects of bike advocacy and action.  I've put my notes online at this link for anyone interested.  In particular I was impressed by the youth education seminar and the tremendous success that's been had by staging kids' mountain bike races and building mountain bike parks.  I would like to direct more of our energy toward this as I think it might bring in more customers and volunteers.  Any comments?

We had our meetings with lawmakers today.  We were told in advance that the flag flying today (photo above) has been dedicated to cycling.  We met Capito and McKinley in person. for Manchin, Rockefeller and Rahall we talked with legislative staffers.  All were positively impressed by the herds (800) of happy, slim and energetic people running around with bike pins on.  This made a bigger impression than corporate money, it was fun to be a part of it.  I'll be back in the shop Saturday at 1pm.  Hope to see you then.

Hope things are well back home, wish me luck.
Nick

8 Mar - Out of Town

Arriving in DC, the Pennsylvania Ave. Bike Boulevard
While in Washington DC this week for the annual League of American Bicyclists Summit, someone else will be watching the shop.  Ken will have it open tomorrow from 2pm-7pm.  I'll be back on Saturday.  We've been working on finishing more bike projects before the riding weather arrives.  The new transmission is working and you can see a video on youtube - search for NickHeinWV.  I've got the prototype with me and I'll be showing it to friends in the industry to see if there's interest.  Have a great week.
Nick

 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood addresses the opening banquet of the Bike Summit

21 Feb - Things are heating up

Good morning,
With the warm weather, and an overnite jump in gas prices of 10c this week, customers have started coming in to the shop again.  We have several repairs and can use any help you can offer as a volunteer.  We are also still encouraging everyone who uses the shop to get a membership to help pay for our (much) improved facility.  You can also check out some of the new projects going together - an adult scooter, a recumbent conversion and a new transmission design.
See you soon.
Nick

7 Feb - Rail Trail Closure South of Downtown

This from our friends at MRTC.
The work at the Robert C. Creel Water Treatment Facility (near mile 11.5 and Greer) will likely detour the trail for one more year and there will be on-going work at the Deckers Creek treatment facility for another year. Event planners should contact BOPARC to coordinate efforts.
Caperton Trail Closure from February - July 31, 2011:
The second Phase of the MUB water and sewage infrastructure project will begin February 1 to July 31, 2011 and will close a section of the Caperton Trail in the Wharf District. The trail closure is approximately 2 miles from the Deckers Creek Bridge at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park to the Robert C. Creel Water Treatment Facility (near the Greer facility- mile 11.5). There will continue to be access to the restrooms and outdoor amphitheater at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park.
Exploring the trail:
There is no doubt that we will all be glad when this section of trail is opened again for use. But this is only 2 miles of a 48-mile trail network. We hope you continue to use and enjoy the rail-trail and perhaps explore sections you have never seen. For Event Planners: Alternative routes might include the Deckers Creek Trail or the Caperton / Mon River Trail north. Contact BOPARC at 304-296-8356 or at www.boparc.org.
Please stay away from the construction area and spread the word to others. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions about the project; call the Morgantown Utility Board at 304-292-8443 open Monday-Friday from 8:00AM to 4:30PM.

22 Jan - Winter Riding and its After Effects

Good morning,
I was running around town yesterday shoveling sidewalks and doing errands, a total of less than 10 miles in total probably, but this is the result.  My bike is covered with snow and salt, shifters are frozen and non-working and large-scales/long-term corrosion is likely to reduce the life of this bike.  I've long had ideas about improving the all-weather capability of a bike, but I'd like to hear from readers of this blog about your ideas.  Please feel free to post them in the comments.  As far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as bad weather for biking, just bad bikes for weather.  Let me know if you've got a good one - whether you've built it or just thought about it.

In other practical matters, I'm posting this photo of the powered trailer that Laird Knight brought by the shop a few weeks ago.  He built this from a trailer and gas-powered assist motor he got from Ebay, and parts that he scavenged from our bins.  This motor allows him and his wife to carry all the family cargo when they go on rides with their 3 kids, without working very hard.  The rig can achieve up to 30mph on level ground, and help maintain a good climbing speed up hills in traffic.  I took a ride on it and, although I generally prefer electric (or no) assist, it was an unmitigated blast to ride.  When you think about it, this is a vehicle that gives you most of the utility of a car (in good weather at least) while weighing less than 100lb - vs a car or motorcycle that might weigh 1000-6000lb.  For short-distance travel in good weather (even with our local hills) this makes a lot of sense - and you can still get a workout whenever you want to by just turning off the engine.  Feel free to send comments or pictures of similar rigs you've seen.

21 Jan - What's going on

Good morning,
Here's what's happening at the shop this week, and where we have opportunities to volunteer...

Invention: We're helping build a kayak trailer for a volunteer and her friends that can be pulled behind a bike.
Construction: We're finishing office space - need plumbing, electrical and carpentry skills.  Also need materials (insulation, paneling, electrical supplies and a kitchen sink/cabinet)

Reporting: We're doing financial and activity reporting for 2010, this will help us get volunteers and donations in 2011.
Grantwriting:  There are several grant opportunities coming up and we need to get our applications in soon.

As always your financial  donations are always welcome and there's always work to be done to get bikes ready for the coming season.  Call if you can come help and we'll arrange a time, even if it's outside regular shop hours.
Thanks,
Nick

14 Jan: Urgent! Help needed

Truck Needed to deliver 25 bikes to Cumberland by 10am tomorrow.
"Bikes for the World", our overseas shipping partner for recycled bikes, is planning to fill another container this weekend to give bikes in countries where people need them for basic transportation.  If they meet their target they'll have 50,000 bikes shipped since starting in 2005.  But they need our help.  We've got 25 more bikes that wouldn't fit on the last truck they sent, we need someone with a pickup truck or trailer who can deliver them to Cumberland, MD by 10am tomorrow.  Call the shop at 304-276-0213 if you can help.
Update 17 Jan - The BFW driver (Phil Ruth) was kind enough to drive the extra distance and pick up our bikes and parts.  They are anxious to fill a container with 500 bikes, which they expect to do today, and load their 50,000th bike.  Here's a video article of director Keith Oberg talking about where these bikes will go.  The total number of bikes put on the container was 514, meaning that our 25 helped put them over the top.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=131342&catid=373 .

Carpenters and laborers needed on Make-a-Difference Day - Monday
This Monday is Martin Luther King day and United Way is sending us $100 and student volunteers so we do some wallbuilding to create more shop and office space that will help us serve our mission better.  We plan to put up partition walls, simple stuff but we need carpenters who can supervise unskilled volunteers and make sure the job gets done well.  Call the shop at 304-276-0213 if you can help.
Thanks for your continuing support!

Update 17 Jan - Thanks to Will and Don Ravenscroft and Doyle Campell for showing up and helping out.  They completed framing of the office wall, giving us a good start to this project.  We welcome help in finishing it from anyone with electrical, plumbing or carpentry skills.

8 Jan - January newsletter is out

Good morning,
I've just published the draft January newsletter.  You can see it here.  Leave comments here on the blog or on the website forum if you have suggestions/corrections.  As you can see it's been a busy year, even with being closed for much of the Summer.  Next year is going to be much bigger, and we'll need more help to support all the activities that the community needs for better bike/pedestrian education and sustainable transportation.  Please volunteer generously, and remember to join or renew your membership.  This gives us funds to continue operating through the Winter when bike recycling income is down.
Thank you for your continued support in the coming year.

Update:  The final version of the newsletter is now out at:
http://www.positivespin.org/Newsletters/2011_01_PSNewsletter.pdf

Please consider volunteering to help with our many activities..
Thank you

6 Jan - A sidetrack to GPS tracking

Good morning,
Some of you may know that I haven't always been a bike mechanic, I have an extensive technical background in vehicle (mostly aircraft) simulation.  Yesterday I happened across a website that will map any bike ride that you want to put in, similar to mapmyride and other online mapping tools.

http://ridewithgps.com/
What's exciting about this one is that it will output the course coordinates if you want to use them for other things.  In my case I've written a bike simulation that calculates power required on a given route for different types of bikes (specified by weight, drag coefficient, rolling resistance, mech efficiency) and riders (specified by power, weight, etc).  There was a little bit of finagling required to get the data in the format I needed, standard format is lattitude/longitude/altitude and my program uses x/y/z in ft.  Here are some screen shots of the online program and the output of my processing program (written in QuickBASIC with output in Excell-ready format).

GPS track in Google Maps from Positive Spin to Cheat Lake

Excel plot of dist vs alt for same route processed from .tcx output file

29 Dec - Shop Open Today 1-5pm

Good morning,
I'll be in the shop from 1-5pm today for appointments with several people who have called in the past few days.  I invite any customers or volunteers to come in during that time.  This is the only time this week we will be open.  Next week on Wednesday we will begin our Winter hours - Wed 1-7pm and Sat 1-5pm.
Now that the Christmas drive is over we'll begin working on bikes for the showroom and for the tradeup day in April.  Looking forward to seeing you.
Nick

26 Dec - Merry Christmas

Hope this update finds you in good spirits from the holidays.  Positive Spin received a very generous unrestricted cash gift from an area family that will put us in a little better position to get through the Winter.  We can still use your membership or other cash contributions, we're not totally out of the woods yet - but we can see to the end.  I also want to thank John Barnes of Cheat Lake Heating and Cooling for coming in Christmas Eve to install our water heater.  When everything's done we'll have hot water in the sink, a shower and laundry for volunteers who have to commute some distance and want to smell nice when they start work.  John is also the hero who moved our furnace into the shop/showroom so that we can work in warm comfort.  Thanks also to the many volunteers who have helped us move into the new Marilla Park building and make it a place where people connect with each other, and sustainable transportation they can afford.
In the coming week I'll be sending out membership cards to those of you who have joined, preparing the year-end report (including financial report) and planning for the year's calendar.  I'll also be applying for grants to help us cover operating expenses and expand our recycling and education programs.  If you have time we could really use your help - particularly with report and grant writing.  We could also really use a membership coordinator to track and communicate with members.  Of course we'll be in the shop working on bikes as well over the next week - in short all kinds of help are welcome.  Call if you can help.
Wishing you Peace in your heart, home and world - today and throughout the year.

16 Dec - Christian Help Toy Drive a Success

The Bikes

On Wednesday we delivered 79 bikes to the armory for the Christian Help Christmas Toy Drive - our 6th year of involvement.  In spite of starting late we had the largest collection ever, and the most volunteers ever, resulting in a record number of bikes fixed up.  In addition there were 6 new and 2 used bikes dropped off at the armory (all of which required some minor repairs and adjustments from us) for a total of 84  bikes waiting to go to new homes at Christmas time.  Thanks to all of you who helped in any way, it took all of you to make it such a big success.

The Move Crew

Special thanks to Bill Jones, Ken Rice and Will Ravenscroft who provided the vehicles and labor to get the bikes there.  Special thanks to ace mechanics Daniele from the WVU cycling team and MHS student Alex who worked all afternoon on Wednesday doing the final checks to make sure the bikes were ready.  And as always thanks to Tau Beta Pi who have worked with us from the first year, and who once again donated the new helmets that were given away with the bikes.  John Kuhlman, faculty advisor, and Claire Mueller, VP and bike project chair, put exceptional and cheerful effort into getting everything together and making things happen.

The Armory

In spite of the supply there were several families who would have liked to get bikes, but didn't have room to take them home.  Next year we are looking into providing delivery to those who need it.  In the few days since the drive there have been 4 more bikes delivered to such families, bringing the total number of bikes delivered to nearly 80.  Thanks again to everyone who helped in every way.

The Remains of the Day - 9 bikes out of 84 weren

't taken

9 Dec - Emergency Organizational Meeting

We'll be holding an emergency business meeting at the shop tomorrow (Friday Dec 10) at 5pm to discuss how to get out of and stay out of the financial hole we're in. We've been helping the community for 5 years, we need people to step up and help us - serving as officers, staff and fundraisers - if we are to continue. ... Most significantly we need someone to perform the duties of board President (even if only for a few months) while we build a functioning board. There will be a social event afterwards. I've been asking people to do this for 5 years, it's crunch time now. We risk legal trouble if it isn't done. Thanks.

3 Dec - Christmas is Coming

On December 15th we'll be delivering about 70 bikes to the Armory for Christian Help's Annual Toy Drive. We'd like to celebrate by throwing a pot-luck party to thank all the people who have helped us continue to do this (now in our 6th year). We'll have live music and presentations. There will be drawings and door prizes.  Bring the whole family and all your friends.  There's room for everyone.

It's also a time we need to ask for your financial help. Due to our partial closure this year we've come to the end of the bike season with our bank account so low that we won't be able to continue unless we get additional income. We aren't asking for donations, all we are asking is that you get a membership (or give one as a gift). You'll get 10% discounts at local shops (Adventure's Edge, Pathfinder, Wamsley) and the money will help us meet our goal of reducing traffic and improving quality of life in Morgantown through sustainable transportation. We need at least 50 new memberships to get us through December. If we get 100 we'll have plenty to get through to next Spring. We're counting on your help - join, give memberships and spread the word to your friends. If you can't come to the party you can join or donate online at our website.  Cash donations are also welcome.

Publish Post