We always could use a good wrench during summer Do-It-Yourself nights to SHOW people how to work on bikes -- not do it for them.

Do you want to work with people?

After a long day of work sometimes you just need to decompress, and working on bikes is perfect medicine.

 

The Collective's scope covers far more than bike mechanics, so that isn't the only thing we need...

Option 1: During the summer we always need reliable volunteers to help with Valet Bike Parking.  Frankly, there isn't an easier volunteer duty than to watch bikes while in a park with beautiful music, food and people.  It just doesn't get any better.

Option 2: Volunteer as a GREETER at our Community Bike Shop.  We have a shop manager and volunteer mechanics on hand to help people, so your job would be to greet people as the come in the door, find out what they need and direct them to the appropriate place or person.  It is really simple, but a vital part to the smooth operation of our shop, as well as a great way to meet people.

Option 3: Do you love kids and like to mountain bike?  Let us train you to become a ride leader for our Trips for Kids program.  Contact our Education Director for more details!

Option 4: Do you have a special skill you don't mind sharing?  Let us know! We are a creative bunch, so we can probably find a valuable place for your unique skill sets.

 

SUMMER (are kids out of school?)

Option 1: If it is summer time and you are looking for experience, we highly recommend that you come to our FREE Park Tool School classes every Monday night.  But don't just leave after the class, stick around and practice what you just learned on bikes that need to be refurbished.  Practice makes perfect.

Option 2: The best way to learn is to teach, so as long as you LOVE working with kids, you can volunteer for our Earn-a-Bike program.  You can learn something, but when you have to explain it to someone else, that is a true test of what you learned, and a great way to solidify that knowledge.  Summer Earn-a-Bike classes typically run from 9am until 3:30pm -- but contact our Education Director for more details.

FALL-WINTER-SPRING (are kids IN school?)

Option 1: Much like the summer we highly recommend that you come to our FREE Park Tool School classes every Monday night and stick around to work on bikes.

Option 2: Given that school isn't in session, you can volunteer during the day!  This is by appointment only so please call us at 801-FAT-BIKE to schedule a time.

Option 3: Our after school Earn-a-Bike program is not as robust as the summer program, but we do teach from 3:30pm until 5:30pm Monday through Thursday.  Contact our Education Director for more details.

Greetings to One and All,

I hope that you have all been having a great holiday season. It has been a while--were you all beginning to suspect that I had gone away?  Well, I am most definitely still here, gearing up for another fun-filled year here at Ye Olde Bicycle Collective.  I know it seems hard to believe right now, what with the massive amounts of snow we are getting, but Spring will be here before you know it!

Which brings me to my next topic:  starting back on January 6th, we will be having kids' earn-a-bike classes gearing (nice pun, huh?) back up.  These little darlings will be at the shop every Monday-Thursday, and we could really use some help with them while they are there.  The times to cover are 3:45-5:30 pm, but you don't have to do every day (although if you do, you will most certainly NOT be turned away, and you will have my undying gratitude!).

We need patient volunteers to enlighten the minds of young mechanics.  Contact us if you are interested in becoming and Earn-A-Bike Instructor.

Ironically you do not need any previous bike mechanic skills or experience.  The quality we look for the most is your ability to work with young adults.  During the school year classes are Monday through Thursday from 4:00pm until 5:30pm.  When school is in summer session, we run classes all day long.  If that is something you relate to, we will gladly teach you the mechanics part.

Because bicycles are so tactile the students can see change and accomplishment every step of the way.  This makes the experience incredibly rewarding for both the students and the teachers.

Also, as a volunteer you are not obligated to come and teach every day of the class -- just give what time you and your schedule feel comfortable donating.

For more info on the course click here.

 

Do you like mountain biking and kids? Salt Lake City is surrounded by stunning landscapes and some of the best mountain biking trials anywhere. Sadly, many local youth never get the chance to experience this natural beauty or the healthy fun and challenge of mountain biking. With Trips for Kids Salt Lake City we hope to change that by getting kids who might otherwise not get the chance, on mountain bikes and out onto our local trails.

Plans are currently underway for after-school and weekend rides this spring through fall. We are looking for volunteer ride leaders to help share the joy of mountain biking and an appreciation of the outdoors with kids ages 10 to 16. Besides the ability to ride a mountain bike and relate to kids, no particular experience is required. If you can share a few hours to join us on an afternoon or weekend ride, we would love to hear from you. If you know of a local youth group or organization that might be interested in scheduling a ride, we'd love to know about that too.

Contact Krisha Pessa our Trips for Kids Coordinator to find out how you can be involved in this incredible program.

The Bicycle Collective is always in the process of refurbishing bikes and in constant need of experienced and/or eager to learn mechanics.  You don't need any prior experience, just be willing to get your hands dirty and ask questions.

If you are an experienced mechanic, but only have time during the day please contact Jonathan Morrison about coming in off hours.

Yes!

Whether the reason is voluntary or involuntary consider the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective a perfect place to spend all or some of those hours.

From AmeriCorps to court mandated -- we provide a laid back, fun, yet meaningful way for you to help the community.

Providing free valet parking and tune ups during each downtown farmer's market is darn fun, but we sure could use some help throughout the summer manning our booth. Even in the off season, there are opportunities to really improve traffic problems at the markets by working on new ideas with the Downtown Alliance.

Go here for more information about our Farmers' Market services

Bike Drives are a fun and simple activity to do.

Contact us and we will ask for the following information:

• Where and when you are planning to do a bike drive, we keep records so that you won't overlap streets with previous bike drives.
• When you would like to schedule a drop off day for.

1. If you are an Eagle Scout Applicant, bring your Eagle Scout Workbook to us for signing -- please fill out the proposal prior.
   
2. Print out our door knob flyers.  Expect a 10% return on flyers, so for every 10 houses you flier, you will get 1 bike donated.
3. Just like a food drive, distribute the flyers annoucing a pick up day and distribute them a week prior.  As a point of reference, it can take two people two hours to distribute 200 door knob flyers by bicycle.
4. Coordinate your volunteers to help pickup the bikes and spread flyers -- you will need to borrow or rent trucks and/or trailers.
5. As scheduled earlier, drop off the bikes at our Community Bike Shop and give us any unused flyers.
   
6. Go the extra mile and organize a day to fix the bikes.  If you are an Eagle Scout Applicant, this also helps fill your other scouts fulfill bicycling merit badge requirements.  You can use our shop, tools and one of our volunteer mechanics.  Check our events calendar for a open day/time slot and ask if we can open the shop up for you.  Generally speaking Wednesday and Friday nights are free.
   

More information on Bike Drives, as well as the best months to do them

Download: Door knob flyer design

If you are an eagle scout candidate looking for a project, the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective can help! For your project consider organizing a bike drive. If this is of interest to you feel free to contact Jonathan Morrison, he is our executive director and also an Eagle Scout (1997) from New York.

We have a goal of becoming one of the premier online resources bicycle information.  But we need your help writing content for our website.  Whether it be a simple trick that saves time, riding tip, mechanic secret or common knowledge -- we would love to have you write about it.  Include as many pictures as you like.

Here is our current Digital Library, as you can see it needs your help.

The Collective is operating on a very low budget and will need increased funding to start new programs and enhance current operations. You do not need previous experience to start fundraising, but you do need to share our passion for bicycle advocacy. Contact Jonathan.

Talk to and invite you favorite local business to join the national Bicycle Benefits program where there is friendly parking and some discount or other special to folks that ride their bike to the business.

http://www.bicyclebenefits.org/