I haven't posted in a really long time because I have been really busy living in the Boston area and doing lots of things.
I have been working with the Non-profit organization called Bikes Not Bombs located in JP where I have been taking a vocational bicycle mechanic education class for 3 months! I have learned so much about bikes and how they work and we talked about the physics behind them and why they worked as well. It has been a great experience for me and now brings me closer to the ultimate goal, which is to not depend on motors or nuclear powered energy...
I have also been taking an Adult Instructor training course at BNB. It is a free course that teaches adults very basic bike mechanics and talks a lot about teaching and working with youth. This course is for people to become adult instructors for the Earn A Bike and Girls in Action youth programs. I am very excited to be working with youth and showing them bike mechanics as well as going on bike rides in this crazy city and showing them how to be safe while on a bicycle.
I personally have a love/hate relationship while riding my bike in the Greater Boston Area.
I love the thrill I get while swerving in and out of cars at really fast speeds during rush hour and I love when drivers have silly remarks to say to me while I am following the rules of the road. For ex; "Get On The Sidewalk!!", " Get out of Traffic Faggot", sometimes people will spit at me or throw trash or food at me. The best part is when they do something completely uncalled for and Then, have to STOP at a red Light. That is when I ride right up next to their car and just stare at them or raise my fist in the air. I usually have lots of responses to these kinds of statements, but I usually keep my cool and just ride along while they have to wait at every stop light.
So I have also been working on bikes in our basement in the house in live in. We had a benefit show and raised $200 for bike tools so we can start having it be a public space for people to come and fix their bikes for free. We bought a bike stand and a basic Bike tool set. I found a peg board and hung up all of the tools and also got a bunch of hangers and hung up a bunch of bikes.
I haven't done much outreach to have people come and use our tools in the basement yet because the space isnt so big and I wouldn't know how to handle like 20 people coming at the same time during Open Hours. For now I am letting people know by word of mouth. So if any of yall would like to come and work on your bike and use the stand and tools in the Allston area then you can email me at jshchadwick@yahoo.com
I have recently been talking with people who are interested in starting a Boston Bike Co-op. We have been having meetings and are starting to have events like Bike tube patching night. The idea of the co op is to be a community based bike workshop and have people come and use our tools and give workshops on repairing a bike for free. We have been talking about trying to find a space large enough and publicly accessible. In the future we could develop programs like an earn a bike program or recycle a bike. I am really excited and enthusiastic about the whole idea. It is slowly growing and growing and I am loving it...
