Spokane Summer Parkways

IF you are a cyclist
AND you live in Spokane
AND you happen to live under a rock
THEN prepare to be shocked and surprised with this news:

This week is the first installment of the 3-part event, Summer Parkways. This Wednesday the first installment will be in our neighborhood. The course will go around Comstock and Manito neighborhoods. (Map here.)

My people are going to be on Post Street. Somewhere between 23rd and 27th. I'm guessing 26th Ave. My people, of course, are the Pedals2People folk.

Liza went and bought a jump rope and chalk. The plan is to do some jump roping, clearly. It's a long rope, so doubles and maybe triples will work.

The chalk is to write essays on the street. The theme: "Why I like to ride my bike." Liza is, by training, a junior high English teacher. So that's the back story there.

I would love a wheelie lesson. God, I'd love it if some super wheelie-popping expert showed up at our P2P area on Weds night and gave wheelie-popping lessons.

Also, if you've been to our house before, then you are invited to come again. At 5pm this Wednesday for pre-ride beers and burgers.

Bikes and ice cream

Ryan set up a P2P free bike tune-up in Liberty Park. Kids that got their bikes tuned up got a scoop of Brain Freeze ice cream from the Scoop mobile unit.
We wanted to make sure we did an extra cool event in our new neighborhood. Free ice cream is a good way to make friends.

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Wheel Building And Maintenance Class

Wheel Maintenance at Pedals2People.

I missed out on the first two days of the wheel building class held at Pedals2People where they built a wheel up from scratch. Last night was diagnosing and repairing problems. Lots of spinning and spoke turning and not without at least one major challenge ending up in Joe's capable hands that required some unconventional work.

Wheel building at P2P

I have been doing a ton of Pedals2People stuff on the side lately. Mainly, we opened our shop. There's a million moving parts there that we had to align but now we're open. Go there and check it out.

In addition, a few of us spent a lot of time on a grant for P2P. What a huge pile of work. The goal, now that we have the shop open, is to keep it open. We now have expenses (a bit of staffing and some rent) that we never had before. So, we're running down grant money; we're hoping to sell our used stuff by keeping the shop open consistent hours; we've got work stands, tools and knowledgeable people that you can rent for $5/hour.



Another thing we're doing is classes. Liza and John Gaz have been rocking the Ladies Classes. The next 3 series are nearly sold out. There's one opening.

Wheel building is one of those weird things that tends to mystify some cyclists. It's sort of held up as a skill of the "serious" cyclist. That's how I thought of it for years. So, we figured we should figure out how to offer a wheel building course.

I gave it a lot of thought and came up with a series of three 2-hour classes ($60 for the series + wheel components) where students will build a wheelset and learn to repair out-of-true wheels. On the surface, the goal of this class appears to be wheel building -- since you end up with a new set of wheels.

But really, the point of the class is to give you practice dealing with wheels and understanding the basic workings of a spoked wheel by going through the process of lacing, tensioning, dishing, and truing a wheel. What this will give you is a basic competence to fix most wheel issues you may encounter on tour or a long ride. It will also give you the confidence to replace a broken spoke and true up screwy wheels that you encounter along your cycling life. It won't make you a pro wheel builder. That takes building at least a hundred wheels. That's an opinion.



I've built about 20 wheels. I'm no pro, and my buddy Willy can identify the wheels I've built by how I've mis-laced the spokes around the stem. It's not a structurally significant mis-lacing, but it makes filling the tires a bit more of a chore. I've since mended my ways and I lace them correctly.

Anyway, my hope was to talk Glen (of Elephant fame) into leading this class. He's built hundreds of wheels. He's a pro. But he's not comfortable teaching such a class. So, I'll be the official "instructor" and Glen is the "facilitator" to make sure I don't teach anything silly. That works for me.

We'll be walking students through the Sheldon Brown method. On the first night, you'll build a front wheel, step-by-step, with the rest of the class. On the second night, you'll build up your own wheel on your own, while Glen and I roam. On the last night, we'll fix up bent screwy wheels.

For the wheels you'll be building: think utility, commuting, touring, mountain biking. We're not doing a low-spoke-count (less than 28 spokes) weirdo materials ultra-light race wheel.



A great example of a solid first wheel: Velocity Synergy rim laced to a Deore-level hub with 14 gauge straight (non-butted) spokes. Velocity is not the cheapest rim, but it's the roundest for the money. Deore or Deore LX are solid hubs that just work, don't cost a fortune, and are serviceable. And even though butted spokes are usually stronger, they like to wind up when you tension them, so straight gauge 14s are good value strong choices for your first build that remove the wind up potential.

We've got a deal (10% off) with Two Wheel Transit for tools and wheel parts for this class, so connect with us after you sign up for a class and we'll do a bulk order. P2P has used hubs and a few new rims if you really want to go budget. We're not going to let you build up a used rim though -- or re-use spokes.

So that long-winded explanation pretty much lays it out. We're doing 6 students a class. We're figuring out when the first series is. Or if you have 5 friends that want to do the series, we can work with you on your dates.

Snow is still legal

It is still officially winter after all. Blech. I'm glad I left the studs on the 720. It's icy as shite on the south hill tonight. The high tomorrow is 20's. yay.

I'm hosting late garage nights at the P2P garage on Monday nights. 8-10 pm. We were packing out Weds nights, so we're trying the late night deal once a week to see if that helps reduce the strain on Weds nights.

Tonight it was just Tanner, Jon, and me.

Tanner and Jon were working on a couple lady Schwinns: hacking them for a tall bike.


Hammering and hacksawing

Shipped Out

Volunteers John and Jason load em up.

P2P shipped out the Village Bike Project bikes today. This is a big huge deal for the organization and there'll be more on the P2P blog in the next day or two.

Today we had about 10 volunteers show up at the Mountain Gear HQ in the Valley. We loaded exactly 200 bikes and a bunch of parts into a 26 foot Penske rental truck. The bikes are headed to Ghana along with a pile of bikes from Moscow, ID.

2 Events this Week

There are a couple potentially interesting events going on this week that are bikey.

#1 Willie Weir
Weds, Sept 24th, 7PM
South Campus Facility, Riverpoint Campus

From the press-release ...

Seattle-based Willie Weir has bicycled off-the-beaten-track to the mountains of India, war-ravaged Bosnia, the deserts of Turkey and the jungles of Southeast Asia. He recently returned from pedaling in Venezuela and Colombia.His human-powered travels allow him to smell the local scents and mix with villagers from Laos to South Africa.

Weir has put together a montage of a number of different performances and named the presentation, Scooters in the Bike Lane. The show is a benefit performance to support the Bicycle Alliance of Washington's mission to open an office in Spokane.

Tickets are $10 in advance (or $12 at the door) from North Division Bicycle Shop, 10503 N. Division St., Spokane, 467-2453

#2 Downtown Alternative Transportation Trade Show
Thursday, Sept 25th, noon-6pm
River Park Square Atrium

From the website...
If you get to work in a single occupant vehicle and and have been considering alternatives, check out your options at the Downtown Alternative Transportation Trade Show! The show will not only exhibit how to get around Spokane at lower cost and impact right now, it will also showcase future alternative transportation technology being developed right here in the Inland Northwest. From scooters and Segways, and bicycles, to bus and vanpool information, even microcars like the Tango will all be at this event.

Hauling to P2P

Tonight was Pedals2People garage night. I was feeling pretty good about my load: one bike stand, one half-rack of beer, and a big box of lights from the BAW Get Lit program. I only have to go a couple miles with my load to get to the garage. And it's basically flat.



After we'd been at the garage for a hour or so doing work, Patrick pulls up with a real load: a basket full of crap and two bikes stuffed in a Burely Trailer. He humped this stuff up the south hill -- from West Central to 42nd and Grand. I had to tell him to smile though when I took this photo.

Westside Wrap Up

I'm pretty sure that this rack/child configuration is not officially supported by Alex, but it does work for short hotel hallway rides.

We spent the last few days in the Seattle area. Some fun/family stuff and some work stuff.

I didn't ride much. But I did get my rack. And we saw a few interesting bike things.



Check out the tandem here. If you look closely you'll see a dog in the back basket too. These two were happily chatting as they cruised down the main drag in Ellensburg.


I also saw this interesting twist on a wheel lock. I've seen these on cars before, but this is the first bicycle wheel lock I've seen.

When I got home today, I had a bunch of work stuff to do, then I put the fender and light and low-rider rack back on my 520 and took a quick spin.

Man I love this rack. It just completes this bike. It just occurred to me tonight that with this setup, I can easily pile my winter sleeping bag (which is huge) on the front rack along with my hammock and pad. Then the food/clothes/etc can go in the small Ortliebs on the front low-rider. This is a perfect set up for S24O's this time of year.

This bike is getting so close. I still need to get a new headset for it. In fact, if I can find a shop that can do this while I wait, I may try to get it done this Friday.


And I'm not insanely crazy about the crankset (Sugino XD2) and the tires I'm running (Maxy Fasty and Nifty Swifty).

When I kill this chain I'll probably swap out the drive train:
-- I have a slightly used XT rear derailleur to replace the Deore
-- I have a line on a different crank set for it (Ritchey triple)
-- Shorter bottom bracket
-- New rear cog.


As for the tires, the ones I have on there are ok, but I do prefer just a bit of tread and it would be nice if the side walls were a tad cushier. I'm holding out for Jan at BQ to source something like the Grand Bois.


As for trying out the rack. One of my first loads will be hauling posters all over town for the P2P/Scoop "Viewed By Bike" photo contest and show. How's that for a shameless plug?

Rollin with P2P

The big P2P organizational meeting was yesterday. Watch the P2P blog for updates around what became of that meeting. After the meeting we had a potluck and took a ride.

Liza

Mike and Ken

Ben. Not sure what hurts my eyes more: the hair or the coat?

Pedals 2 People Needs Your Bike!

I'm doing a little blog cross-posting here.

P2P is rallying for donated bikes. Think of the kids!

More info on the Pedals2People blog.

A New Road and a New Park and Many Bikes

I took a vacation day today to take a ride and do some volunteer work.

In the AM, Joe and I took a ride out towards Cheney. Our intention was to hit the Columbia Plateau Trail but we decided to loop around earlier and ended up exploring some new areas. I love it when we find a new road.

I forgot my map, which is a good thing, or it would've been a ride on familiar and same old routes. Joe is a perfect riding partner too -- he's always down for whatever whim seems to catch me. Want to go longer? He's cool with it. Want to cut it short? No complaints. We rambled around out east of Marshal on known roads, then ended up on Keeney Road, a new and unknown-to-us-road. A nice dirt roller. I was pretty satisfied just finding a new road when we stumbled across a county park.

The park is a small area that was likely a farm at some point. It's got a small lake on it and lots of wetlands. Lots of birds. This would make a nice picnic destination. The entrance is on the corner of Keeney and Washington Roads, very close to 195.

We got home at around 11AM and then at about 4PM, I picked up Joe and we went to a local car dealer where we are fixing up a huge pile of bikes for an annual kid bike drive that is being directed by a local TV station. Pedals 2 People is running the wrenching part of the drive, which I now know, is the most significant effort in the drive.

There are about 70 bikes out there. All of them are absolutely the cheapest of the cheap. These are donated bikes that are just in awful shape. We've got just under two weeks to get these bikes in ridable shape. It's a huge task and more than a bit daunting. If you can help, even by just cleaning up bikes, if not actually wrenching, we could really use your help. Look for the "KHQ" entries on this calendar to see when we're out there. Feel free to contact me if you have questions: johnspeare@gmail.com.

Downtown Bike Bathroom. Pumpers. Family Bike Camping

If you're downtown and need to use a restroom, but you don't have a bike lock -- go to the bathroom next to the gondolas in Riverfront Park. You can ride your bike right in there and take care of business.

Can you pump up a tire? Then Pedals2People needs your help. Go here and find the events with titles that begin with "KHQ". Then show up and help us out. We're also doing a free bike tune up day at West Central Community Center this Sunday.

Wanna go on a family bike caravan and camp out at Riverside State Park? I'm thinking June 23rd 22nd; leave the fountain at noon. If you're interested email me.

Pride Parade 07 and Mobile Sound

Pedals 2 People had a great turn out for our section of the Pride Parade yesterday. No one counted, but the guess is about 25-30 cyclists showed up and rode with us. Mike here took a bunch of pictures, hopefully we'll see those soon.


Our sound system wasn't nearly loud enough, so that gives us something to work on. After the parade I saw a guy with the most righteous bicycle mobile sound system I've ever seen.

Behold:
Click for big and you'll see that the cabinet is covered in sequins. He's got good volume, and obviously impeccable taste. Anyway, this guy's name is Chris, and as soon as he started talking ohms and wiring in series and deep cells, I knew we found our technical advisor.
Lesson #1: get rid of the deck. There really is no reason to haul around a car stereo; he wires his MP3 player directly into amplifiers, which then go directly to speakers.
I'm excited to get our system dialed in now. We have a 2-channel 2x40 amp for the mains and the 4x6 speaker and we have a bass amp with a single bass speaker for the low end. Our marine batteries held up great. We'll see how they do when we get some good volume.
I'll document the process and final product here, as it's been hard to find basics on the web for a bike mobile sound system.

Baby Steps: the birth of a cycling non-profit

Alert readers of this blog may have noticed a new link that quietly found it's way onto this page about a month ago. For the last few months Liza, my buddies Ben and Jon, and I have started to realize a dream I've had for a couple years. We're starting up a non-profit cycling thing in Spokane called "Pedals 2 People." The idea is to end up with a community cycling center. In the last month or so, we've added a couple more friends, Beth and Katleen. This is what we're calling our "steering committee."

We are in early days. We've got a heady mission statement that you can read on our site, but really, we're finding our way.

Our goal this summer is to do as many different events as we can to see what we're good at, what folks need, and what we actually want to do. At the end of the summer, we'll get serious about honing our mission and hopefully pursuing federal tax-exempt status.

It's clear Spokane is ready for such an organization. In the short time we've been an entity, we've had a lot of interest -- all by word of mouth.

The month of June begins our coming out. Here's what's planned:

• June 9th: The OutSpokane Pride Parade. We'll be cycling with friends and wearing our shirts.



• June 16th: Local Flair Street Fair, put on by Fresh Abundance. We'll have a booth.

• June 17th: Free Kid's Bike Repair at West Central Community Center (11am-1pm). We need help on this. Contact me if you are available and know how to do any of the following: pump up a tire; change a tire; adjust brakes/derailleurs; hang out and help.


• Mid-Late June (tentative): Official "wrenches" for the KHQ annual bike drive and give away.
  
• Ongoing: Thursday night slow summer rides on the Centennial Trail. (That's tonight). 6:30PM at the Carousel.


• We're also collecting bike donations.

Our site is slowly coming together and soon we'll be blogging regularly. If you want to help/volunteer/do anything, we'd like to meet you.

Part of this whole deal, perhaps the most important part, is building community around all types of cycling. Join us.