Why Bike Bee?

Is it because them liddle critter is all workaday? No, the idea intended to be evoked refers to the importance of quilting bees in the past. As many of us know, women would get together & work on a quilt together.



Often the quilt would go to someone who needed it. New wives could be introduced to a group, and get to know the place they live. While quilting, any and all kinds of useful information would be passed back and forth, from solving a pesky family problem (many minds work better than one) and helping a soul realize that they aren't alone, to family herbal lore (most of which scientists are only now realizing, wasn't at all wives' tales, and in fact, were grounded in experience). Sometimes it may have been idle chatter, but even this fosters communication. A joke, a song, a quiet word of support. Because it's all about communication.



Even the nature of the quilt itself is remarkable-quilts are considered an art form, sewn out of salvaged scraps of cloth into something of striking beauty. And of course, it is great fun to produce a fairly major project with a group.

Bicycle Bee isn't about work. We will not enslave you to some dull-as-dishwater project. The idea is similar to the quilting bee -- a way to foster communication, take bike repair and building out of the sometimes offputting workshop, and into the hands of anyone who has, or wants a bike. Works in the same way as a quilting bee. A group of people get together and toss various tips and advice back and forth, in an accessible language we all use. Instead of a quilt, the project is a bike, but the process is the same.

Bike stories, hints and advice on dealing with the road, drivers, good places for a hungry cyclist to eat, best bikes, really good, incredibly cheap on the road toolkits, several different easy ways to deal with a flat, random thoughts about the universe, about how to make a group a vital, alive amazing groove, it's all there, in a pretty relaxed atmosphere. If you know nothing but nothing about a bike, well hey, we'll help you out, and you'll come away with a little more knowledge.

~by bryce