Thursday, November 17, 2011

Update your bookmarks!

This blogs url has been changed to http://bikecaveict.blogspot.com. Real website at http://bikecaveict.org coming soon.

In other news, the BikeFightsICT team had our first successful trial run last night at the Anchor. All we need now is a dedicated laptop to run it and a projector. Oh, and YOU to come out and race! Event schedules will be posted as soon as details are hammered out. 

Monday, November 14, 2011

A great end to a great season

The bbq yesterday was a smashing good time, thanks to everyone who came out! Big thanks to Ryan Windham for playing for us (and congrats on winning that killer Ninnescah messenger bag!).

It's been a fantastic season and we're eternally grateful to everyone who's made it possible. Even though the shop will be closed for the winter, there's lots of work to be done until the springtime. I'll try to keep everyone updated on our progress via this blog and our facebook and with any luck at all we'll be re-opening next year in an actual storefront!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Success!

Thanks to the valiant and unstoppable efforts of The Bike Cave's incomparable volunteers and staff, the mountain of junk bikes in the back yard is GONE! Two Sundays of sorting, three trucks and one Honda Accord full of scrap frames and wheels later and the Bike Cave is about 2000 lbs lighter and our cash box is $141 heavier! Thanks everyone who helped out, and a big thanks to Bogue Iron, we couldn't have done it without you!

And another success story: After nearly five years in the making, The Bike Cave is now officially a Kansas recognized not-for-profit corporation! It gives me great pride to welcome Derek Werner, Charli Lauer, Alec Jahn, and Jarrod Acquistapace and myself, Michael James, to the founding Board of Directors. We look forward to serving the Wichita cycling community for years to come.

And one last success story: The Bike Cave has it's best summer yet. We raised over $1000, sold and fixed countless bikes and had a lot of fun along the way. To celebrate the end of the season, we'll be throwing a party this Sunday. Normal open shop hours from 11-4, then we'll be grilling and jamming out to the Michael McDonald-inspired smooth grooves of local acoustic wizard Ryan Windham. $5 suggested donation will go towards renting a commercial shop space in the spring. A bike or box of bike parts will also be accepted in lieu of $5. Food and drinks will be provided but supplies will be limited so BYO is strongly encouraged. Hope to see you there!

Monday, October 17, 2011

So, turns out...

I'm really awful at this whole blogging thing. Mainly the remembering passwords part. Truth is, running the shop takes precedence over running a blog and the shop has been crazy busy this summer. We sold a ton of bikes, helped fix at least that many, made numerous improvements to the shop and drank approximately 16,000 beers collectively.

That being said, we have a few projects we'll need help with. The first is disposing of the mountain of junk bikes in the back yard. They'll have to be stripped of rubber and plastic, and sorted in to steel and aluminum before they can be recycled. I'd like to get this started next Sunday, but I know everyone will be pretty busy making magnificent Halloween costumes, so it may have to be spread out over a couple weeks.

The next big news is INCORPORATION! Yes, the Bike Cave is on it's way to becoming a real live not-for-profit with (cross your fingers) a real live commercial shop space! This will mean lots of paperwork, boring board meetings and money. Lots of money. If you feel inclined to help out in any of these areas, get in touch! We will be drafting bylaws, electing a board and filing for incorporation within the next month or so.

And as always, open shop Sundays 11-4, 553 N Fountain.