THE SPACE RACE IS ON FOR 2008!

Very soon, Freeride will be losing its storage space where it houses
hundreds of bikes waiting to be fixed or used for parts or art. Do you
know of any good storage space? Basements of buildings in town, unused
garages, warehouses? Free is preferable, but we may be able to pay modest
rent.

Also, while we love our shop space, we are almost constantly feeling the
limit of its size. Ideally, we would like to find a suitable shop space
attached to or very close to a storage space.

Please email us with ideas!

Solstice Festival of Light Bike Ride

Show up at Freeride Bike coop 89 Barre Street at 4 pm to decorate bikes, then ride through town with us Decked out in lights to celebrate the solstice, and the return of the sun!Bring as many light sources as you can and a winter ready bike. If you don’t want to ride your bike in the snow, you can borrow one of our bikes for the ride. We’ll be cecorating bikes from 4pm,a nd the ride will depart at 5pm.We’ll have blinkie lights,a nd amybe some other light sources for sale as a fund raiser, but bring any and all bike compatible light sources you might have. Glowsticks? Candle lanterns? Batter powered christmas lights? Whatever you’ve got we want to light up the streets of Montpelier in celebration of winter, the solstice, and the coming return of the sun!

Bike this Winter!

Winter biking is possible! But don’t wreck your nice bike riding it around in the salt and slush, come build up a cheap winter bike with us! Our winter hours through season will be Tuesday and Thursday nights, 6pm to 8pm. Learn tips like keeping your tires at low pressure to improve traction, and using a lot of lubrication to prevent rusty, frozen components. You’ve got to watch yourself on the ice, but it beats shoveling your driveway every morning!

Bike Commuters, Grocery Getters, and Utility Cyclists - I Need You!

I’m going to undertake an independent video / biography project by
tapping into the wonderful resources of VCAM <http://www.vermontcam.org/> .

I’m interested in doing on road interviews of bike commuters, grocery
getters, utility cyclists, kid dropper offers, and anyone who uses their
bike on a day to day basis in and around Burlington. (and I’ll stretch
this generic geographical boundary as necessary - as far as Montpelier
if needed)

Ideally I’d like to follow a group of cyclists for a year - interviewing
you roadside, trailside and MUPside at least once a season. These will
then be edited and shared - either via VCAM’s channel, web outlets, or a
future Burlington focused bike blog that I’ve been tinkering with.

Interviews would edit out to about 5 minutes each - and I expect each
segment to take no longer than 10-15 minutes to film.I’d like to meet
somewhere along your commute or daily path - morning or evening for
commuters - any other time for kid droppers and utility cyclists. I’m
developing a ‘format’ and list of typical questions. These could be
emailed to you before hand so you’ll have an idea of some of the content
I’m looking for. The questions will direct a chat about bikes, cars,
routes, gear, weather - and what it means to you to be using your bike
as transportation. I’m interested in telling a story and painting a
picture of everyday folks using their bikes for their health, the
environment, convenience, cost - whatever drives you to ride.

The more the merrier - anyone that integrates their bike into their life
is welcome.

Reply on list or contact me off list @ mike.beganyi (at) gmail (dot)
com. Subject line iBikeBurlington so it dodges my spam software.

I hope to do some test shooting with the equipment in the next 2 weeks
(I’ll need a guinea pig) and develop the first series to cover the fall
season. This is going to be funded by my spare time and the great
resources at VCAM - so any offers of help / guidance / etc. will be
appreciated.

Thanks!
Mike Beganyi

Special Bike/Part Collection Sep. 22 with SculptCycle

MDCA and FreeRide are collecting used bicycles and bike parts on Saturday,
Sept. 22 from 10am to 1pm. Donations can be dropped off at FreeRide which
is located at 89 Barre St. (the small white building near Hubbard St, next to Fisher Auto Parts). The entrance is in the back. FreeRide will refurbish bikes and bike parts in
good condition into usable transportation. All other donations will be
turned into public art as part of the MDCA SculptCycle project.
SculptCycles are unique sculptures utilizing recycled bicycle parts which
will be on display in downtown Montpelier during Summer/Fall 2008. To
learn more about the SculptCycle project, go to www.SculptCycle.org or
www.mdca.org.

Barre bike donation

Early in August, the City of Barre donated more than 40 bikes to our organization. Below is the thank-you note I sent to the city after we collected the bikes.

On behalf of FreeRide Montpelier, I wish to sincerely thank the City of Barre for it’s donation of more than 40 bicycles to our organization. The City’s donation will give us the opportunity to make more bikes available to members of the Central Vermont community. Furthermore, the number of small-frame and BMX bikes in your donation will give us the chance to provide free or reduced rate bicycles to children and young adults — a group of riders we were not able to reach previously because we simply did not have the appropriate inventory.

We hope to continue our relationship with you in the near future. In an effort to reach out to members of the Barre Community, we are interested in fixing up two or three kids bicycles to be donated back to the City. Once the bikes have been overhauled, FreeRide and the City could work together to get the bikes to kids in the Barre area. Our organization has been quite successful in reaching out to members of the Montpelier community. However, we have not had as much success in your city. We hope that that a joint venture between Barre City and FreeRide can help us reach more people who need bicycles or would like to get involved in cycling but do not have the knowledge or the financial resources to get started.

FreeRide Montpelier is a cooperative organization dedicated to making bikes available to individuals for a reduced rate or for free. We also make work space and tools available to individuals interested in learning how to maintain their own bicycles. We encourage community members to join our organization and to dedicate their time and skills, used bikes, or tools to help us reach our goal of making cycling available to as many Vermonters as possible.

And also, while I’m on the subject of bike donations, we have plans in the works for a bike strip-down and rebuild party in the coming month or so. We’ll be announcing a date and time of the party on this site, so stay tuned.

4th Annual ORS Century Ride

Rachel Senechal blogged up a few photos from the 4th Annual Onion River Sports Century Ride held yesterday (July 28, 2007), including the below one, at the Montpelier Matters blog, here.

Cyclists at the Barton Food Stop during today’s Onion River Sports Century Ride.

[photo by Rachel Senechal at Barton Food Stop (via Montpelier Matters blog)]

Volunteers Needed for ORS Century Ride

We need volunteers to work at the Onion River Sports Century Ride THIS Saturday.

We need help out at the Montpelier Recreation Field: two people from 1-3pm and one person from 3-6pm. to congratulate riders, record times, help with the BBQ, clean up and tear down.

We need one person to help at the North Wolcott Food Stop from 12:15 to 2pm to set up food, drinks, table and tent, hand out food to riders as they arrive, encourage riders, clean up and take down. (Food and drink to be picked up at ORS on Langdon Street and transported to North Wolcott)

We need people to bake cookies! Oatmeal, date, molasses, peanut butter and other yummy cookies! The cookies can be dropped off at the Library on Friday, July 27 or ORS on Langdon Street.

If you can help us out please let me know.

Thank You!
Rachel Senechal
223-3338

Bikes, not Nukes!

SOLAR ROLLERS BIKE THRU VT TO SHUT DOWN VT YANKEE!
Aug. 14 - Sept. 1, 2007
By riding through every county in VT, Solar Rollers hope to:
Educate Vermonters regarding real VT Yankee facts (VT Yankee is
dangerous, dirty, expensive and destructive)
Urge Vermonters to contact their legislators in support of clean,
renewable energy
Urge legislators to deny the re-licensure of the 34-year-old plant,
now running at 120% of its original design capacity and shut VT
Yankee down
Talk about real green alternatives to nuclear power.

Join the Solar Rollers for a day, a weekend, a week or the entire trip!

Along the way you will help distribute informational flyers, speak
with local media, and talk with residents of every county in Vermont,
while enjoying the recreational opportunities epitomized by the
“Vermont Ain’t Flat” bumper-sticker.

For more information or to join us, contact:
The Solar Rollers - reporter@montaguema.net.
David Detmold- 413.863.8666 (Southern VT)
Robin Cappuccino -802.533.2296 (Northern VT)
Debra Stoleroff- 802.476.3154 (Central VT)

Ways You Can Get Involved:
Ride with us! … for a day, a weekend, a week or the entire trip!
Organizer a Public Meeting … in your town the day we arrive to
discuss the issues of nuclear power and green alternatives
Arrange an Evening Potluck … for informal discussions
Offer a Place for Tired Cyclists …to shower and rest their weary
bones (inside or out — Solar Rollers will have tents)
Sponsor a Solar Roller … your financial contribution will aid in
our outreach and education efforts in VT this summer
Document the Journey … videographers are welcome to help us
continue our efforts in a digital format
Blog About the Solar Roller Tour on the VT Yankee Decommissioning
Alliance website … to broaden outreach and communication
Create an easy-to-carry-and-present Street Theater performance… for
those great moments on town greens

Draft Itinerary:
Tues, Aug 14:
9 am- VT Yankee Nuclear Power plant, Vernon
11 am Brattleboro - Bennington (approx. 38 mi)
Wed, Aug 15: Bennington - Chester (approx. 55 mi)
Thurs, Aug 16: Chester - Springfield - White River (approx. 41 mi)
Fri, Aug 17: White River - Rutland (approx. 35 mi)
Sat, Aug 18: Rutland - Middlebury (approx. 38 mi)
Sun, Aug 19: Middlebury - Warren (approx. 39 mi)
Mon, Aug 20: Warren - Randolph (approx. 50 mi)
Tues, Aug 21: Randolph -Chelsea - Barre- Plainfield (approx. 40 mi)
Wed, Aug 22: Plainfield - Stowe (40 mi)Morrisville (approx. 50 mi)
Thurs, Aug 23: Morrisville - Hardwick - St Johnsbury (approx. 35 mi)
Fri, Aug 24: St. Johnsbury - Lyndonville - Island Pond (approx. 30 mi)
Sat, Aug 25: Island Pond - Newport - Troy (approx. 40 mi)
Sun, Aug 26: Troy - Glover (approx. 35 mi)
Mon, Aug 27: Glover - Enosburg area (approx. 45- 55 mi)
Tues, Aug 28: Enousburg area - Swanton (approx. 26 mi)
Wed, Aug 29: Swanton - Grand Isle (approx. 30 mi)
Thurs, Aug 30: Grand Isle - Burlington (approx. 25 mi)
Fri, Aug 31: Burlington - Montpelier (60 mi)
or Burlington-Waterbury (approx. 48 mi) and bike to
Montpelier Sat, Sept 1

Benefit Concert this Thursday!

 

Benefit Concert! — July 19

 

July 19th @ The Bethany Church (basement)
6:30 pm to 10:00 pm

 

Sh! The Octopus (Detroit Indie Rock)
How to Stay Alive in the Woods (NEK weird indie folk)
The Mountain Wolves (Montpelier’s favorite Mountain Goats cover band)

 

Suggested donations $10 to $0 (or bikes/parts/tools)…sliding scale.