It’s always fun to talk bike mechanics with kids and our recent workshop in May at the VOA emergency shelter on Preston Street was no exception. 

We met four nights in a row with with a group of 6 teenagers giving them insights into the wonderful world of tubes, tires, chains, derailleurs and brakes. The final night focused on rules of the road, safety and biking courtesy.  

The kids were energetic and engaged, asking Seth lots of questions as he showed them how to work on the refurbished bikes they had selected from our shop.  

By the end of the workshop, they had acquired enough information to know that bikes are not just fun to ride, but cool to work on.

This year, the Louisville Free Public Library invited us to be one of their how-to presenters!! It was an amazing and wide-ranging program, and the LFPL library staff ran the whole circus so well!

Because Seth a ridiculously optimistic when it comes to weather conditions, we biked the trailer over in the early AM. (Seth was right btw about the rain…but not so much about the wind lol! check out the battle down breckenridge below).

FCCB got a sweet spot right next to the milking cow for the first few cold hours, and then relocated to a teaching tent on the 3rd St lawn where we were followed by a guy teaching drone flying techniques. Seth & Bella met lots of people – mostly new faces – and Seth fixed and demonstrated nearly non-stop! The crowd was really fun and into learning new things, what a nice vibe!

Can’t speak for Betsy, but FCCB had a great time. See you there next year!

In April, we had the opportunity to provide some special programming for some of the kids who frequent the Shelby Park Community Center by holding a couple of “fix-em up” workshops on Tuesdays two weeks in a row.

The first week, a group of five children, ages 8-12, walked over to the shop on Logan. Seth showed them the facility then got down to teaching all about tubes and fixing flats. The kids relished the whole experience – didn’t mind getting their hands dirty (in spite of the fact some wore fancy shoes) and seemed to derive particular pleasure from using the pump for inflation.

The following  Tuesday, Seth pedaled over to the community center with the mobile unit and “set up shop” in the park. Lots of kids and adults dropped by for both mechanical insight and general info about FCCB. It was a great way to let our neighbors know we are here and what we do.