Desiree Kuhn, discussing truing wheels with Jane Halliday

On a balmy September evening, FCCB hosted our first women-only open shop night. Participants were encouraged to bring their own bikes in for repair or maintenance, and lots of questions. Desiree Kuhn, who formerly wrenched at Bardstown Road Bicycle Co., was our expert mechanic for the evening. She ran through some basic maintenance tips such as removing a rear wheel, greasing a chain, changing or patching an inner tube, and checking brakes and gears.

Special thanks to Desiree for rocking this event!

A couple of FCCB members worked on project bikes, including a donation in need of some TLC, and a change-out of headset, brakes, and shifters.

Why a women-only night? While all of our FCCB mechanics are knowledgeable, courteous, and respectful, not everyone feels comfortable going into a space that is likely to be male-dominated. A women-only event provides a welcoming environment and opportunity to learn from other women. Participants can gain confidence in their repair skills in an environment that encourages them to experiment and ask questions. Johanna Bleecker, of New Hope Community Bikes (a community bike shop in Hamilton, Ontario) has a great blog entry about why she decided to start a women-only night there.

If you’d like to see more women-centric events at FCCB, let us know via Facebook or email. We’d love to hear your suggestions.

Shop manager Seth Short, co-founder John Keuger and volunteer Denise Greer wheeled over to Waterfront Park for the Mighty Kindness Hoot, an annual community unity festival, to give a “Bike Repair 101” workshop. Seth also demonstrated how to change a flat tire. The group chatted with festival goers about the bike shop and FCCBW membership and volunteering. The rad bike trailer was on hand and equipped to assist bikers with mechanical issues.

FCCB participated in the Reuse Summit put on by the Partnership for a Green City and Louisville Metro Public Works, June 3, 2016 at JCTC – and with the way we refurbish bikes at FCCB, we had a lot to add to discussions pertaining to reuse!  Seth was there with the mobile unit demonstrating bike mechanics to curious bystanders while Jane answered questions about the mission and services of FCCB.  They made wonderful connections and particularly enjoyed meeting some of the security staff at JCTS.  They have a fleet of 10 bikes (with disc brakes!) they use to get around campus and connect with the students, and the fellow in charge of maintaining those vehicles was particularly glad to find out about our shop, its services, and that it is so close to JCTC.  He also said they find abandoned bikes pretty regularly and that he will be donating them to us in the future – yippee!

There aren’t many better ways to spend a Thursday evening than in the shop with other like minded bike folks working on….bikes!

There were about 10 volunteers in the shop 6/2 getting bikes ready to sell at the Flea Off Market. We had music, conversation and of course yummy food and drink to help keep our energy up, and by 9:30, had a total of 22 bikes ready for Saturday’s market.

We hope to do this on a monthly basis because 1) it’s fun to get together and 2) it helps us raise funds to keep a roof over our heads.

We’ll let you know when the next volunteer night is scheduled – you won’t want to miss it.

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.