12/18/15, the Louisville office of Gresham Smith and Partners hosted the 2nd Annual GS&P Winter Bike Commute Challenge to support the good work of community bike shops & encourage the citizens to bike to work.
The 2-part challenge was to 1) bike to work, and 2) post a selfie #winterbikecommute #fccb #louisville to FaceBook, Twitter, or Instagram. For every qualifying post, GS&P made a donation to the Falls City Community Bikeworks!
Louisville loves this. And a similar challenge happened in Lexington on the same day, benefiting BrokeSpoke community bike shop…so it’s officially a bluegrass thing 🙂
What’s behind the informed generosity of our beloved bike santa?? In August, Gresham Smith and Partners’ Louisville office was award the Gold Level distinction as a Bicycle Friendly Business. The office staff regularly bikes to work and participates in lunch time bike rides. They’re putting the money where the mouth is, and it’s making a beautiful difference! The biking communities of Louisville and Lexington thank you, GS&P and Mike Sewell.
Scroll on for the riders’ gorgeous selfies, and the announcement of the winner of the FCCB Gratitude Raffle..
In gratitude, FCCB held a raffle for the Louisville participants of the 2015 GS&P Winter Bike Commute Challenge… and the winner is… Sarah Traughber. Her prize a sweet vintage Schwinn Collegiate Sport 6 Speed. It’s a vintage bike with a sweet & old Thornbury’s seat tube sticker, fixed up for Sarah by our own Seth Short! Congratulations Sarah and thanks for taking part!
And here are the faces of the fiercest in the bluegrass…
After more than a year as a 100% volunteer organization, FCCB received an incredible and unexpected gift this year – a grant to pay staff costs!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone already knows we <3 the volunteers who not only opened our doors, but walked back through them hundreds of times to do even more. Now, on top of that strong foundation, we have two part-timers who manage their respective duties with intelligence and wonderful humor. OMG the luxury. Like a thousand ice creams. Like a dream within a dream. Fabulous. If only we could thank our anonymous angel donor….hopefully this message will reach him/her…
Please welcome these guys to the community! Aren’t they spectacular?!
Jane Halliday, Admin/Development Coordinator
How long have you been the Administration and Development Coordinator?
Just started on November 1st!
Tell us a little about how you got involved with FCCBikeworks and what you are responsible for in your current position.
I am a musician who “gigs” with Isabella. She had been telling me about the shop and I was intrigued. So one Saturday I rode over for a visit. I had a blast, learned a lot, and basically fell in love with the place, it’s people and it’s mission. When Bella told me they were looking for someone to help her and John with a variety of tasks, I asked them to consider me for the job. While I have only recently started working for FCCBikeworks, we are already getting a good idea of how to distribute responsibilities pertaining to membership, marketing, grants and outreach. It’s a real adventure because while there already are so many things to do, there are also many new things we could do exploring ideas that John and Isabella are envisioning for the growth and stability of FCCBikeworks.
Why do you think the services a community bike shop provides are important and how does that inform your work?
I really appreciate the focus on education that is the foundation of FCCBikeworks’ mission, but I also really am inspired by the way other areas of social advocacy intersect with this organization – alternative transportation, social justice, sustainability, public health. It definitely makes it feel more “interdisciplinary” than other nonprofits I’ve been connected with.
What kind of bike(s) do you ride?
I am a leisurely rider and like to “tool around” on an old Schwinn (a pretty blue) that I had fixed up a couple of years ago to suit my more relaxed approach to pedaling.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not in the shop?
Well music would have to be first on the list of other things I enjoy. I am a violinist and play both classical music and gypsy jazz, so that get’s me around quite a bit. But I also get a kick out of dancing of various kinds and hiking when I can find the time, and often there is a good beer involved!
Seth Short, Shop Mechanic Coordinator
How long have you been the Shop Mechanic coordinator?
I got hired in September so I’ve been at it for a few months now.
Tell us a little about how you got involved with FCCBikeworks and what you are responsible for in your current position.
I met John (one of FCCBikeworks’ co-founders) in 2013 when I was pretty fresh to Louisville and he was interested in getting a bike co-op going. I have been working with bikes since I was in college and had volunteered at a few bike co-ops when I lived in Boston for a short amount of time so I was happy to help. It seemed crazy to both of us that Louisville had such a large community of bicyclists and no place like FCCBikeworks. We tried out a lot of different ideas including trying to revive an old bike co-op but nothing really worked out, then he met Bella who was interested in helping and they found a space and started FCCBikeworks. I’d been volunteering as a shop mechanic since day one, as well as helping do other stuff such as organize the shop, place orders, and attend events. When we got a large grant at the beginning of this year it gave me the opportunity to officially work here and spend a lot more time re-organizing the shop and to be available as a mechanic during all of our open hours. In a place like this there is ALWAYS something to do, even if it is just fixing up some of the old bikes in the back room or sorting out components.
Why do you think the services a community bike shop provides are important and how does that inform your work?
Working on your bike by yourself as an amateur can be confusing and intimidating, and a lot of the more specific tools are very expensive. Shops like FCCBikeworks fix both of those problems. When you have an experienced mechanic to guide you through the process of fixing your bike then you never have to worry about screwing something up and making it worse. It’s very empowering and it’s also a lot less expensive than going to a shop every time you need to change a flat tube or adjust your brakes.
What kind of bike(s) do you ride?
I have a lot a bikes: a single speed that I built up a few years back, a hybrid commuter, a mountain bike, etc., but my favorite and the one I ride most often is a LOOK KG96 – an old carbon road bike that was made in ’88 or ’89. I lucked out and bought it in college from a friend’s dad who used to own a bike shop, it’s been my primary bike since. Every now and then I try to switch it up and ride something else but I always come back to this one because it’s just so fast and comfortable.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not riding or fixing bikes?
In my free time I like to do creative stuff like play music and work on compiling zines. I go to the indoor climbing gym a few times a week, and when it’s nice outside I try to play soccer and ultimate frisbee. Otherwise I just do the usual stuff like read, watch TV shows and listen to music – I have a lot of friends in bands around town so I try to catch some live music at least once a week.
UPDATE! There they go! #ShelbyPark#FCCB#janeistherealsanta#awesome#VOA#merryxmaskids! happy biking to the VOA kids who will make these bikes fly! thanks to all our santa team Chip RogalinskiSeth ShortJane Halliday who made this donation happen! Yall are a blessing!
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On a December evening, some of the best folks in the world showed up (with cookies and cider!) to fix-n-polish 25 bikes for re-donation to Volunteers of America’s Shelby Park kids. Big thanks to Chip Rogalinksi for connecting us with the VOA! Chip makes good things happen in #ShelbyPark!
And now…we ride! Time to don the santa suits and elf hats! Watch this page to join in the delivery fun!
The Green Institute from the Center For Neighborhoods came by last week to talk bikes, bikes, bikes!
Factoid: Did you know that FCCBikeworks was a Green Institute class project once-upon-a-time?
Thanks to Bicycling for Louisville and our visitors for good conversation about sustainable transportation planning, how to get into biking safely, and how to make neighborhoods more bike friendly. We could talk about that stuff alll day long!
The trailer is rolling and we are taking her out on the town every chance we get!! The gratitude goes to:
Andy Dyson – carpentry
Gil Crenshaw, Andy Dyson, and John Krueger – welding
Braylyn Resko Stewart #Reskotattoo – design & painting
…….AND, of course………
the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeways Commission (KBBC) – Paula Nye Memorial Educational Grant support!
In early October, FCCB rolled to Etown to attend the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission Annual Meeting. We gave a little presentation on our shop and how the Paula Nye grant funds have made us stronger, better, faster, smarter! We met lots of intelligent Ky Transpo Cabinet people, made a friends, and learned about a variety of great projects happening all around our bluegrass state. Look at this map and give them some feedback!
In the month of August 2015, FCCB offered a full slate of learning opportunities! Besides our usual shop hours we held four free workshops conducted by famous FCCB mechanics: 1) Getting our bearings with Nad 2) Gears with Seth. 3) Cable Installation, Adjustment, and Troubleshooting with Nate and 4) Brakes with Nad. After each of the 2 hour workshops the gang headed down to Dairy Del for a cool reward! A+ for everybody!
October 20th Falls City Community BikeWorks rolled out our mobile station to join UofL bike fixers for a couple of Bike Maintenance Workshops on the Belknap and Health Sciences campuses.
We were happy to be a part of the 3Points Block Party on September 5th! Through the hard work of dedicated 3Point volunteers, our street has become a more attractive location. We applaud all they have achieved and were happy that we could be a part of the beautification efforts by adding a special green bike from by design artist extraordinaire, John Paul, to the mix!
On
