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Bike Kitchen Hours Expand

Keep the Bike Kitchen Cooking

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This week we’re highlighting 5 different Bike SLO County programs and efforts that need your support. Our 2017 Annual Fundraising Campaign is scheduled to conclude at midnight tonight, Friday June 16th and we still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goal of $30,000.

Women's Program

Day 5: The Bike Kitchen

Support the Bike Kitchen

Earlier this week we featured Women’s Night @ Bike Kitchen and RideWell, two great programs made possible in part by the Bike Kitchen. 

The Bike Kitchen opened seven years ago in 2010. Since then more than 6000 people have visited the Kitchen and learned how to fix their bike. From day one, Bike SLO County committed to creating the Bike Kitchen as a safe space for everyone, where there are no stupid questions and all are welcome. As we always say “Come fix your bike! Don’t know how? We’ll teach you!”

Every day that the Bike Kitchen is open, people are empowered to learn and empowered to use what they learn with the tools we share. Currently we’re open Thursday through Sunday, and we’re exploring the possibility of expanding our hours to provide more access to even more SLO County residents. 

Finally, the Bike Kitchen accepts donations of used bikes which are refurbished for the RideWell program or sold to the public to help cover operating costs and partially fund other Bike SLO County programs.

Please support the Bike Kitchen – your one time donation of $100 or more will help the Kitchen thrive and grow. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated as we strive to reach our goal to raise $30,000 by midnight tonight, Friday, June 16th.

Click here to make a one time donation.

Prefer to make a recurring monthly donation? Click here to make a monthly donation.

Already support Bike SLO County? Thank You!

Help Make SLO County Better for Bikes

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Twice a year Bike SLO County raises funds from our supporters to make sure that we can do what needs to be done to make SLO County better for bikes.

Our current 2017 Annual Fundraising Campaign goal is to raise $30,000 and we are way behind. Please watch our video and then dig deep with a whatever can give. Your donations make all the difference between the present and the bike and pedestrian friendly future we’re working hard to achieve. Donation links are below the video. Thank you!

Donations of any amount a greatly appreciated as we strive to reach our goal to raise $30,000 by Friday, June 16th.

Click here to make a one time donation.

Prefer to make a recurring monthly donation? Click here to make a monthly donation.

Rather send a check? Bike SLO County, 860 Pacific St, Suite 105, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Already support Bike SLO County? Thank You!

Help stop Distracted Driving

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Bike SLO County’s 2017 Annual Fundraising Campaign concludes on Friday June 16th and we still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goal of $30,000.

This week we’re highlighting 5 different Bike SLO County programs and efforts that need your help.

DAY 2: Distracted Driving

Bike SLO County is committed to making Central Coast roads safer for everyone. Whether you ride a bike, walk or drive a car, Distracted Driving affects us all.

In the coming months and years, Bike SLO County, working with partners from the Central Coast business and government sectors, will develop and implement a series of campaigns to help educate members of our community on the dangers and costs that Distracted Driving. You may already have heard our Distracted Driving messages on KCBX radio.

Distracted DrivingAdditionally, we’re reaching out to state and local lawmakers to encourage them to significantly raise the penalties for distracted driving. Deaths and injuries resulting from distracted driving are on the rise while current penalties for distracted driving are too low to dissuade drivers from multitasking behind the wheel.

Your donation of $25 a month will fund twenty Distracted Driving radio spots a year.

A one time donation of any amount will help expand our Distracted Driving efforts at the state and local level.

If you agree that Distracted Driving should be a thing of the past, please donate today.

Click here to make a one time donation.

Prefer to make a recurring monthly donation? Click here to make a monthly donation.

Already support Bike SLO County? Thank You!

 

Bike Donate

Give Your Old Bike A New Life: Donate It!

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Donate Your Old Bike Today!

If you listen to KCBX or any other public radio station, you’ve probably heard announcements asking for donations of old cars to help sustain their programs. You donate a car, it gets sold at auction, a percentage of the proceeds go to your favorite public radio station (and you get a tax break).

It may surprise you to know that Bike SLO County has a similar program – but instead of cars, we accept bikes. When you donate your old bicycle to Bike SLO County, your gift works in a number of ways:

  • By donating your old bike instead of throwing it away, you’re helping the environment by keeping it from heading to a landfill before its time.
  • Your bike will be tuned up and given a new life, giving someone else years of joy and transportation.
  • Your bicycle may be sold to someone looking for a gently used bicycle. The proceeds help Bike SLO County fund our other programs (Bike Education, Bike Valet, Bike Advocacy, Kidical Mass)
  • Your bicycle may be donated to someone through our Ride Well program, which serves SLO County families and individuals in need, for whom a bicycle may provide much needed mobility.
  • You get, at your request, a receipt of your gift that allows you to deduct your donation on your taxes.

Bike DonateWill We Accept Any Bike?

Great question! While we do accept most bikes, we can’t accept all bikes.

  • We do not accept “department store” bikes (Next, Roadmaster, Magma, modern Free Spirits). Why not? These bicycles are often constructed with very low quality parts in non-standard sizes and are not designed to be serviceable. Due to their limited compatibility, we are not able to make sure that they are safe to ride.
  • We do not accept bikes that are beyond help. That rusted bike that has been buried in wet leaves for the last 3 years? No thanks! Use your best judgement. When in doubt, call Michael at 547-2055 and ask us if your bike sounds like a good candidate for donation.
  • We do accept most other bicycles and will repair them (or use them for spare parts). “Old” does not mean we won’t accept it – it’s about quality, not age.

What’s The Next Step?

Ready to give your bike a new life? Bring your bicycle to the Bike Kitchen, 860 Pacific St, Suite 105, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 (map) any Friday, Saturday or Sunday between the hours of Noon – 5 PM.

Thank you for helping make SLO County an even better place for bikes!

 

Giving Tuesday 2015

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Lend a hand for Bikes on Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for purposes of hashtag activism, refers to the Tuesday after U.S. Thanksgiving, December 1st in 2015. It is a movement to create a National Day of Giving and Philanthropy at the beginning of the holiday and Christmas season.


To mark this #givingtuesday, anyone who wants to celebrate the powerful positive role that giving plays in our world is being givingtuesday_sliderasked to donate & share their own ‘unselfie’ on their favorite social media sites & by email. What’s an #unselfie? To take an unselfie, write on a piece of paper the name of the charitable cause you’re supporting on Giving Tuesday. It could be as simple as “#Bike SLO County” or as involved as “I support better bikeways in SLO County” or whichever reason you feel moved to give.

Add the tags #unsefie, #givingtuesday and #bikeslocounty, then hold the piece of paper in front of your self (or even in front of your face) and snap an unselfie. We’ll even have some preprinted sheets available in our office (map), or you can download PDF or JPEG color or black & white versions online: Color PDF version: Color JPEG version : Black & White PDF version : Black and White JPEG version

End of Year Campaign

Giving Tuesday kicks off Bike SLO County’s annual End of Year fundraising campaign. SLO County had a fantastic 2015, with lots of countywide bike projects completed (bike lanes in Paso Robles on Riverside, Union and Creston roads, a fantastic bike and pedestrian bridge & trail in Morro Bay, new bike lanes and green striping at Arroyo Grande High School, the very first blacktop bike safety course in California at Oceano Elementary, buffered bike lanes in Los Osos on LOVR, new green lanes on Broad, California & Madonna streets in SLO) and major projects funded for the coming years. We’re hoping you’ll help make 2016 even better. Our goal is to raise $25,000 for safer bikeways around SLO County by midnight, December 31st. Please consider a donation on Giving Tuesday, or anytime before the end of the year at bikeslocounty.org/donate

Donate Your Old Bike

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Every year our Bike Kitchen helps thousands of people learn to fix their own bicycles. We’re able to accomplish this because we have all the parts, tools and knowledge that people need to get the job, whatever it is, done. We can teach people to build a bike from the ground up, to fix the junker they found at a garage sale, or to simply tune up their bicycle or fix a flat. We serve all types of people, and are committed to creating a safe space for everyone.

Bike Kitchen Hours ExpandOne of the ways the Bike Kitchen earns enough money to continue to provide these services is through the sale of gently used bikes. All of the bicycles we sell are bikes that have been generously donated, by people just like you. When a donated bike arrives we get to work, tuning it up with care so that it’s in the best possible shape when it gets back on the road (or trail).

Who Donates Bikes?

All kinds of folks donate bicycles to us. Sometimes when someone buys a new bike they think of us and donate their old one. Every now and then we receive bikes from people who are getting on in years and are focusing on other interests. Many bikes come from people whose eyes are bigger than their storage (too many bikes, not enough space).

Regardless of who you are, we hope that you’re someone who will donate your old bicycle to the Bike Kitchen. We’re usually able to offer a wide variety of bikes for sale, but every now and then donations slow down and the number of bikes for sale dwindles. This is one of those times. Please consider a donation to the Bike Kitchen, and remember that your donation is tax deductible. Just ask us for a form and we’ll gladly provide one to make your write-off as easy as possible.

We accept most bikes, other than “department store” bikes like Next, Roadmaster, Magma, and modern Free Spirit bikes. These bicycles are often constructed with very low quality parts in non-standard sizes and are not designed to be serviceable.

Ready to donate? The Bike Kitchen is open from Noon – 5 PM, each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Have questions? Call us at 805-547-2055 during Bike Kitchen hours or email tyler@slobikelane.org.

Like Bikes?

Become a member of The Bike Coalition – it’s free to sign-up and we’ll keep you informed every month about bike events and issues in SLO County. Click this link to join: I Like Bikes!

Building a Bicycle Advocacy Force

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Your Bicycle Coalition has big plans for our expanded advocacy efforts in 2014 and needs your help to make it happen! We ask you to make a year-end donation to help the Bicycle Coalition build this stronger advocacy force. 

Advocacy makes it happen, if we don’t show up and ask, bicycle projects will not get built. Thanks to our dedicated advocates we completed major victories this year:

  • Achieved adoption of a new Bicycle Plan in San Luis Obispo including $64 million in projects.
  • Maintained that future Bob Jones trail segments be removed from roadway traffic.
  • Rallied community support for new bike lanes on Grand Avenue in Grover Beach.
  • Secured 4x funding for bicycle projects in San Luis Obispo.
  • Supported installation of new bike lanes on Rambouillet Road in Paso Robles.
  • And even more!

LeadingTheCharge

In 2014 we will inspire decision makers to lead the charge for better bikeways or otherwise be replaced. Our plan for next year is to focus on advocacy, directing our energy to move more projects from concept to completion. We will:

  • Cultivate an army of families advocating for young riders and safe routes to school.
  • Influence elections to achieve a bicycle friendly majority serving in elected bodies countywide.
  • Innovate our advocacy efforts through unique online tools and communications.

Make a donation of $25, $50 or $100 today; invest in the Bicycle Coalition and our ambitious vision for incredible bikeways in SLO County. Your generous support will make you an integral part of this shared vision. We are committed to making you a proud supporter again in 2014.

Read more about our Advocacy Force plan for 2014.