TheWashCycle

Gearin' Up Gala this Friday

Gearin' Up bikes is hosting its second annual gala this Friday at Atlas Brew Works. Tickets are on sale for $50 with all proceeds supporting Gearin' Up's programming!

Become a Sponsor! A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are available - contact them at info@GearinUpBicycles to become one!

Farmer's Market Bike Clinics

Farmer's Market Bike Clinics

I'm a little late posting this, but these go on until November

The 2010 season has begun, fresh food meets freshly-tuned bikes -- right in your neighborhood!  Four District farmers' markets are hosting free bike repair clinics. Get your squishy tires inflated, flat ones fixed, squeaky chain lubed, sketchy brakes adjusted, and more!  Don't have a
bike yet?  Get advice on what to buy, where to shop, and then, where to ride.

Come out to one of the markets listed for delicious shopping and service, all in one shot.

Think this is the best idea since sliced seasonal fruit?  Well, after you get tuned up, you can help out, too!  No repair skills?  No problem. (A few basic repair skills - or more, even better.)  Email the contact below at the market nearest your house.  Not sure which one to pick, or just want more info?  Contact Kristin (Mt. Pleasant) at [email protected]

.*14 & U Farmers Market*

14th and U Streets NW

Open: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (May – November)
Contact: Aaron Waxman -

[email protected]

 *Bloomingdale Farmers Market*

First and R Streets NW

Open: Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (May – November)

Contact: Dan White -

[email protected]

*Glover Park – Burleith*

Wisconsin Avenue and 34th Street NW (Hardy Middle School parking lot)

Open: Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Opening May 8)

Contact: Gil Nissley -

[email protected]

*Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market*

Lamont Plaza (Mt Pleasant St NW and Lamont St NW)

Open: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (May – November)
Contact: Kristin Roberts -

[email protected]

Phoenix Bikes, it's a bike shop and then some.

Last month, the Post's MisFits wrote a really good article on bike shop/co-op Phoenix bikes in Barcroft Park in Arlington.

Kids from the neighborhood, most of them low-income, many of them from immigrant families, volunteer to work in the shop's "earn-a-bike" program. After 25 hours of learning how to fix flats, true wheels and answer phones, each 12- to 17-year-old is given a free bike, a prize that some of them might never have been able to afford.

Then, if they want, the teens help plan the group's rides and off they go, on trips such as the 90-mile riding and camping event along the Chesapeake and Ohio canal path that some of them took with volunteer leaders last summer. Others are entering mountain bike races. There are shorter rides every Saturday.

I've met some of the kids and they have so much enthusiasm. I'd love to see a similar program set up at the old Boys and Girls club on the Hill (in my neighborhood).

It turns out that some of the kids like to hang out around the bike shop, so they are given larger projects: build a bike from scratch, construct an equipment shelf, color-code the tools. Stick to it, and they can earn another bike, and another, and trick them out as much as they'd like.

The kids are learning riding and safety techniques, basic bike repair, business, planning and leadership skills, a lifelong fitness habit, proper nutrition, environmental awareness and confidence in themselves. They seem to do better in school. They go places and see things they might never have dreamed of if those two wheels and their own two legs hadn't taken them out of the Barcroft Park area.

"Bikes are just sort of the vehicle we use to teach them all these skills," Fox says.

And there is more in the comments

I had the pleasure of working with a few "graduates" from Phoenix who had moved into the retail cycling industry - all top notch kids, who are now blessed with a true passion for cycling and a respect for the culture that surrounds it. The bicycle industry is a small but tightly woven family, and having young kids entering it through Phoenix not only helps the kids learn something they won't necessarily get in school, but also seeds the industry with smart, caring, and highly functional young adults.

Phoenix Bikes is located near both the W&OD trail and Four Mile Run Trail. It's located inside Barcroft Park. The park's street address is 4200 S. Four Mile Run Drive. Park in the main lot of Barcroft Park, walk to the street, turn right on the Four Mile Run sidewalk, and walk several hundred feet. The shop is located on your right, behind yet another park building and next to the tennis courts. If you pass the tennis courts and see Woofs Doggy Daycare Center, you've walked too far.

Hours for bike repairs (and sales) are Friday 3-7:30pm and Saturday 10am - 2:30pm.

VéloCity Bicycle Cooperative

Alexandria has a new bicycle coop, Velocity Bicycle Cooperative, along the lines of the Bike House. It's a community-based cooperative that will soon provide a place for DIY bike maintenance, bike clinics, and bike youth programs in Old Town.

This is a place to hang out and enjoy bicycling.

They're going to be opening the doors for the first time on May 1, so check them out.