Taking the next step with Yay Bikes!

Volunteers chillaxin' after their Bike the Cbus shifts. 

So you’re looking to get more involved in Yay Bikes!, eh? Sweet! Here’s how:

BECOME A MEMBER

Regardless of how you see yourself being involved with Yay Bikes!, step one will always be to become a member. When you invest in an annual membership—which, at $25/year, is eminently accessible to most (not to mention, if you really can't afford it, we’re open to trade for some in-kind services)—it serves as a declaration that this cause and this community matters to you. In fact, it matters so much that you’re willing to fund full-time staff members to make full-time bicycle advocacy happen. We want people on our team who are passionate at that level, because a sizable and engaged membership predicts advocacy outcomes.

VOLUNTEER

The “what” of volunteering, i.e., our available entry-level opportunities, is not nearly so important as the “who”, i.e., the “who we should be to be an effective Yay Bikes! volunteer”. Our volunteers consistently manifest our core values—because “meaningful relationships” are key to our theory of change. What this looks like in practice is:

• Committing to a job by registering in advance on our website or emailing staff
• Fulfilling that job as defined, or communicating well in advance if you cannot
• Upholding our core values at all times throughout the process

Members who have demonstrated an ability to manifest our core values, either outside the organization or by volunteering in our entry-level jobs—like parking bikes in the corral, assembling buttons for Year of Yay! or registering people for Bike the Cbus—are eligible to manage part of a bigger job. That might entail leading or sweeping a Year of Yay! ride, greeting cyclists at the bike corral or designing a Bike the Cbus route, etc. Members who manifest the core values and have special skills or training may be invited to take even greater leadership roles—for example, to join our board or assume accountability for an entire project, such as the Ride of Silence, a Yay Bikes! fund-raising event, Year of Yay!, bike corral site supervision, etc. That's right. Yay Bikes! members have a unique opportunity to explore ourselves as a leaders and get the support needed to be successful. Reach out to someone on staff and grab it!

GIVE

When you give to Yay Bikes!, what you’re doing in practical terms is providing us with discretionary funds—i.e., funds we can use at our discretion, without the need to attach them to any particular program. Basically this funding stream goes to funding our operations—non-program staff, technology, rent, office supplies, etc. That's right: our overhead. Overhead has gotten a bad rap in the philanthropic world, but it seems some people have (thankfully!) begun to come back around to the idea that (gasp!) it costs money to run an effective organization.

Membership is always, as noted above, step one. But gifts above that $25/year make a huge difference to our efficiency and effectiveness, because they allow us to invest in the essential organizational functions that program grants simply do not cover. Even better? Giving a regular amount on a regular basis (an option that you can set up to run automatically through your bank) allows us to predict our monthly cash flow and just might make the difference between whether we feel like we can increase investment and expand existing programming or invest in new services. This is a no-joke proposition—we are an extremely lean organization and YOUR GIFT could be what it takes to move us to the next level.

SHARE

We have lots of love to go around, and we transform lives. Bring a friend along for the ride, literally (ha)! Neither of you will regret it!

Bike the C-Bus Superstars 2014

In 2014, we once again leaned heavily on Bike the Cbus founder, lead organizer, and champion - Ray George. But even Ray, as incredible as he is, could not do this alone. Here is the wonderful team that made Bike the C-Bus 2014 happen: Nik Olah, Bambo Sanusi, Mitzy Noisette, Roger Beck, Michelle Rucker, Doug Fisher, Annette McKinney, Catherine Vogel, Rahel Babb, Thomas Babb, Brian Meyers, Lawrence Leonard, Thomas Leonard, Roderick Leonard Sr., Deanne Kirillow, Tim Cristy, Brian Laliberte, Oulanje Regan, Cherie Snyder, Brian Jackson, John Bannon, Steve Puhl, Josh Gallaher, Phil Weckesser, Wiley Jackson, Cartik Saravana, Alex Smith, John Cresencia, Alex Anderson, Andrea Patton, John Wyman, Katie Parsons, Gloria Hendricks, Evy Cresencia, Talon Hendricks, Ken Cohen, Aliceane Innskeep, Becky Curran, Joe Powell, Jeff Gove, Kat O'Dowd,  Rob Hendricks, Mark Ervin, Nancy Neimuth, Trace Hendricks, Jay Cheplowitz, Mary Cheplowitz, Ben Ko, Meredith Joy, Bill Ferriot, Kai Landis, Annie Womak, and Catherine Girves

And our fabulous major sponsors:

• Homeport
• OSU Wexner Medical Center
• Deschutes Brewery
• Heidelberg Distributing Co

And the fabulous bike shops who provided free repair services:

• Cyclist Connection
• Paradise Garage
• Franklinton Cycleworks
• RideHome

And our fabulous rest stops sponsors:

• The Crest
• Endocrinology and Associates
• Franklinton Cycle Works
• Tatoheads Public House
• Olde Towne East Neighbourhood Association

Thank you. Seriously. Thank You. This event would not be possible without the dedicated group of volunteers and sponsors who make it happen each year. We love you all!

2083 bikes parked at ComFest

Wow. Even with the rain and the early closing Saturday, Pedal Instead had another incredible year parking 2083 bikes at ComFest! For those of you wondering what the ComFest running total is since our first bike corral in 2006 <drumroll> 16,597 bikes! One Festival – LOTS of bikes.

This would not have been possible without the kick-ass team of volunteers that did the heavy lifting of creating and tearing down the corral, and storing and fetching bikes, and just generally being outstanding bike babysitters.

Thursday Set Up Team - Maria Cantelmo, David Curran, Catherine Girves, Pamela Gutter, Andrew Hulvey, Craig Kullik, Steve Puhl, Jr, Matthew Wolf. Friday Team – Bill Adams, John Bannon, Anne Bishop, Nate Bishop, Jane Boyer, Tim Brown, Mark Carol, Letitia Cetina, Michael Coakley, Giana Collins, Jeremy Collins, Michel Coconis, Ken Cohen, John Cresencia, Daniel Desantis, Joe George, Catherine Girves, Janelle Henderson, Bharati Jayanthi, Mike Kositzke, Lee Marxen, Kyle McCalla, Duane McCoy, John McDermott, Shillelagh O'Knuckles, Steve Puhl, Jr., Mary Rathke, Melissa Sjostrom. Saturday Team – Bill Adams, Alex Anderson, Laurie Ashline, John Bannon, Dave Beckman, Barb Berger, Sarah Butler, Mike Coakley, Sylvia Collard, Evalyn Cresencia, John Cresencia, Meghan Davis, William Finley, Greg Fisher, Joshua Fouasnon, Catherine Girves, Jeff Gove, Brian Jackson, Wiley Jackson, Jillian Manning, Duane McCoy, Brian Meyers, Julie Mickley, Stephen Nordlund, John Obergefell, Sarah Obergefell, Shillelagh O'Knuckles, Danny Peterson, Adam Porr, Steve Puhl, Jr, Kevin Ralston, Robin Ralston, Matt Raufer, Brian Rinehart, Eric Rush, Alyssa Shaw, Will Smelser, Cherie Snyder, Larry Stuckey, Julie Walcoff, William Whitehead, Bill Withers. Sunday Team – Mark Carol, Jared Finchum, Catherine Girves, Jeff Gove, Jenelle Henderson, Marie Jarden, Yalande Jeffries, Danny Lemmon, Rachel Miller, Sarah Montague, Shillelagh O'Knuckles, Steve Puhl, Jr., Michele Reinhart, Cartik Saravana, Larry Stuckey, Melissa Tewart-Darwin, Jodi Whytenberger.

I am particularly thankful to Mike Coakley and Duane McCoy who first found Pedal Instead at ComFest. They are committed volunteers working to improve logistics annually. Thankful to Andrew Hulvey who kept an eye on us all weekend, and was ready to drop everything and be there when needed. Finally, much thanks to my heir, the new Queen of the Bike Corral, Steve Puhl, Jr. We functioned as a well oiled machine on our toughest weekend of the year under his leadership. Join me in pledging fealty to our new Queen. The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen! Yay Bikes!

Yay Columbus! Yay Safe Streets Ordinance! Yay Bikes!

What exactly does the Safe Streets Ordinance say?

• clarifies that a bicycle IS A VEHICLE,

• clarifies as the safe passing distance between a car and a bicycle as 3', and most larger vehicles and a bicycle as 6',

• adds a specific ban for motor vehicles in bike lanes, with some exceptions,

• clarifies the law to specifically prohibit motor vehicles from “right/left hooking” bicyclists,

• requires bicyclists to not text, and to yield to emergency vehicles,

• allows police officers, firefighters, parking enforcement officers, and special improvement district ambassadors to ride bicycles on sidewalks in the performance of official duties,

• allows the Public Service Director to to add bikeways and bicycle parking on streets,

• corrects conflicting language in the parking code,

• brings traffic code into compliance with portions of state laws, and

• adds gender inclusive language.

For more details, view 2014 Safe Streets Ordinance Fact Sheet or click to view the actual legislation.

Big thanks to Council Member Michelle Mills for sponsoring this legislation and shepherding it through the process to law, Council Members Zach Klein and Troy Miller for co-sponsoring, and Council Member Eileen Paley for meeting with Yay Bikes! leadership about this legislation back in 2012. Additional thanks to Leslie Strader, Policy Advisor from the Mayor Coleman's Office of Environmental Stewardship, and Randall Bowman, Assistant Director of Public Service for meeting regularly with bicycle advocates as this legislation was being crafted.

Thanks to the 31 Yay Bikes! members who attended the last two City Council Meetings and the Public Hearing in the last week to support passage of the Safe Streets Ordinance: Rahel Babb, John Bannon, Heather Bowden, Jane Boyer, Jay Cheplowitz, Ken Cohen, David Curran, Jack Decker, David Docktor, Bill Ferriot, Ray George, Catherine Girves, Jeff Gove, Gloria Hendricks, Rob Hendricks, Talon Hendricks, Trace Hendricks, David Hohmann, Cartik Kothari, Kai Landis, Keith Mayton, Duane McCoy, Nik Olah, Joe Powell, Steve Puhl, Jr., Oulanje Regan, Gary Schmidt, Barb Seckler, Scott Ulrich, Jim Williams, and Megan Zale.

Finally, our work on this would not have been possible without those of you who financially support Yay Bikes! You rock.

Yay Bikes! Yay Us! You YOU!!

Letter to City of Columbus Supporting 3' Passing Law - January 31, 2013

Big THANKS to Patricia Kovacs, Cole Miller, and Rob Hendircks the initial leaders in Yay Bikes! to push for a 3 Foot Passing law in the City of Columbus.  Here is the letter following their initial meeting. 130131ThreeFootSupportLetter