SomeBikeCoopYouthProgramLearning
Introduction/Definition/etc
Traveling around to different bike projects,
comparing some of VeloCityBikeCoop
my local one with TheBikeHouse
and eventually seeing more...
20100810 10.04 am Jerry
Body
I came into VeloCityBikeCoop
as planned on Sunday afternoon around 2.15 pm
(X on the internal spreadsheet means planning
to arrive (or unavailable/ Out?),
then add actual numbers
for on site time after the fact timesheet?)
Christian was there though I'm more used to John
and Mike on Sunday times, and was not able to leave
the bike in the back corner of the open
shop, so locked it out by the cabs.
Forrest and Athena's kid skating along the
area, and after I was cooling down a bit
from biking in the heat,
I ended up front by the sidewalk
at the table as the shop was
crowded and kid trailer near the
bathroom to lounge area,
settling on the OLPC XO
on the table to keep him busy
and focused, while trying to keep
stuff out of the aisles to walk
now that we have lots of
donated bikes in the foyer?.
Impressed by the new artwork,
a few people looking at it as I was coming
in but the new artwork probably needs
a name and artist bio sheet/ or labels
displayed as people may start asking
"Who made these?" (and lest I dub
it "The Butthead series" 8-/,
as it's a bike seat made into an animal face,
with forks and bar ends as antlers, horns,
lines and features, etc)
and kids will probably want
to know what animal it most closely
resembles (cattle, ram, deer, etc)
A woman came in waiting for her friend
who was parking the car, I gave a little
overview of the shop (a frequent task
as I'm not much of a mechanic yet),
but she wasn't a biker and
seemed to be business or church dressed
instead of usual biker Lycra.
She asked about founding and Christian
appeared, correcting Master Mechanic
and co-founder instead of Head Mechanic
(I used the wrong term).
She, it turns out is an Auntie
and ended up interacting with and entertaining
the kid with a guessing game he proposed
of the collection of rubber bands on his wrists,
type of cat, type of bird, etc.
Fireworks?
After things calmed down,
a cutting with spray of sparks in the
stand area (I called it a compressor
hacksaw), later discovered to
a seat post bolt of some sort...
Bike Part Names aka Bike Anatomy
I'm still not good with names/
anatomy of a bike, and the
different types of things,
cantilever brakes, center pull,
side pull and at least a fourth major type,
DISCS! and rims and hubs road/ mountain
sizes 26 vs 700 cc kid and trailer 16, 20,
etc, newer 29 inchers vs legacy types
valve stems Shraeder (like car tires
but CAREFUL a gas station and compressors
might blow out the tube)
vs Presta (skinny tires higher pressures,
metal stems with more entire threading
a locking nut, used by more racing types
than I've ever done)
and the third odd type named? etc.
Sign In Sheets
Later talked with Mike and Christian
about the sign in spreadsheet that I emailed to this list,
and not hearing any comments back about it,
but I hadn't printed a copy to try it with the group.
Some background, I visited / volunteered at
TheBikeHouse (Petworth) a couple of Saturdays
over the last few months and saw how in the short
3 hour open shop time outside in the backyard
of the coffee shop row/ townhouse
they keep the flow of people manageable
with a clipboard sign in sheet. Part of it is probably
for getting stand time vs on the ground out
into the alley and matching who is with whom.
The first sheet I saw had more columns
the second visit they had just email
contact and off on the side the volunteers
names available...
We had about 9 people at once one
Sunday afternoon at VeloCityCoop,
when John wasn't there
(and I think Mike out too)
and I was with a guy from class
and it was difficult to juggle,
IMO (In My Opinion), not that
I'm good at it anyway.
Turns out John was upstairs,
but I didn't catch that hand off signal.
People wondering around the parts,
peering in stand areas, using bathroom,
maybe getting water, etc.
Vague reports of stuff missing,
one of my first visits and I can't
find my instruction sheet on my new
dynohub, and came in to
the Puegot single speed project
two of the three wheels,
both back missing,
the original and second to convert
and buy we had to search and find
again up in the racks.
I guess it's common with shared
space, and I'm not used to it,
old guy living alone for decades
and stuff stays where I left it...
I'd had a heads up about it
and reminded by Christian
about my single speed project,
and I'd told John I had to wait
to the new month to buy stuff for it
then hit with possibly moving
and needing to save for
security deposit and moving
expenses, so planning on
taking those out this coming
weekend on Sunday
with a trailer, as I don't have
use of the car anymore,
how I got it there to begin with...
PediCab Tow Truck Idea
I've mentioned a Bike Tow Truck
idea for bike and rider delivery
and repairs.
Most bikes come in somewhat
rideable, but some people may
be stranded, or more fundamental
building and major repairs/ reworking
or worse accidents (bent frame/ forks, etc).
Computers In The Shop
I've also been to visit Phoenix
and they have a computer system
which VeloCityBikeCoop might eventually want
something similar, or better (with me it'd would be
Open Source Linux based, instead of Windows
maybe web server for cross platform with
Mac, plus remote database
and inventory management during off hours,
but I don't want to get too geeky and
surmise a snap design yet).
Much More To Learn
This is from a few months experience
with VeloCityBikeCoop and a few visits
to TheBikeHouse and it's clinic events
at Petworth Farmers Market and the
TheGreatDivideMovieInMtPleasantLamontPark
I find it interesting to compare Bike Programs
similar to the Drop In Centers, but
much more technical.
I know the BikeSchool
http://bikeschool.com/
teaches mechanics, but is far
away, expensive and roughly
like ASE school for cars...
Maybe some day I'll know what
I'm doing, but for now, I'm learning something,
comparing different arrangements,
trying to offer suggestions based on that
comparison learning, trying to not be too annoying,
and work on projects while things are occassionally
slow at the shop/ Coops...
Conclusion
Summary of experience or similar
Discussion
A place for feedback on the page presented
Page History
20100810 Jerry
- Jerry created this page to do more comparisons and suggestions
- across the individually described 3+ places...
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