Bicycles and Trailers

Posted on July 30, 2013 by

Another bicycle workshop, but with a twist. I have a group of folks, who are interested in the basics of bicycle maintenance but also want to know how to build a bicycle trailer. Not only they want to know, they want to do it. So we are getting together this Saturday, August 6th at 5pm to shortly look at the basics around taking care of a bicycle and then we will switch to high gear and harvest bamboo, and start building some trailers out of them.

Lots of reference information here with a lot more on bicycle maintenance:

Lubrication

Adjusting the Adjustables

Adjusting the Adjustables II.

As for building a bicycle trailer see these links for a good description on how to build one:

Audio-visual

The steps of the process from a previous workshop

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Permaculture get-together with Roberto Perez Rivero

Posted on July 30, 2013 by

We have a permaculture/sustainability rockstar (from Cuba!) coming to our town.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1970; Roberto Perez Rivero is an environmentalist, sustainability activist and international educator.

Roberto has been part of the Cuban Permaculture movement since its introduction in the country in 1993 after the so called “Special Period”, caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union when Cuba lost access to oil, fertilizers, pesticides, and virtually all trading partners that the small island nation depended on to survive, facing economic collapse overnight.

Formerly importing most of its food, Cuba’s agriculture is now 95% organic, with the city of Havana producing over 60% of its own fruits and vegetables within the city’s urban spaces.

Roberto has been instrumental in the Urban and Sustainable Agriculture movements, helping the island become a model for sustainability. In 2007, Cuba was identified as the only sustainable country in the world, by The Living Planet Report from the World Wildlife Fund.

Mr Perez will talk about Cuba’s progress and struggles in sustainable agriculture and sustainable living in the face of declining petroleum and other non-renewable resources in an event Sunday, August 18, 6:00pm-7:30pm at the downtown Food For Thought bookstore, 106 North Pleasant St, Amherst, MA, 01002. Donations of $10-$20, no reservations needed.


Mr. Perez is a featured interviewee in the internationally acclaimed film:

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Watch it here.

For a flyer for the Amherst event click the image on the right.

More information: http://umasspermaculture.wordpress.com/.

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Weekend Visit

Posted on July 26, 2013 by

Guess what happened this weekend? I received a visit from Steve, from Yuba Bicycles!

Long story short, I have not only been making cargo bicycles but also put some energy in researching ones made by others. I tried the Surly Big Dummy, the Trek Transport, and the XtraCycle FreeRadical, and got to the conclusion, that I would like something really robust, well built, and affordable. Although I couldn’t try before buying, I decided with the Yuba Mundo. However in the process of figuring out how to order a Mundo from Yuba, who didn’t have a local reseller at the time I was offered to be an aficionado. A year later I ended up with two Mundos and quite a bit of exposure to Yuba staff.

So last week I got an email from Steve, one of the staff, saying he would be around my neck of the woods, would I want to get together. Which indeed we did; not only got together, but looked at bikes, biked over to Laughing Dog Cyclery and as a result of that you may see some long- and midtail cargo bicycles there soon, and hung out in general. I believe there is some write-up by him about this visit somewhere on Facebook – can’t confirm it as I am not on it, but I am sure you will find it by searching for ‘Yuba Bicycles’.

                     

Also I got to see and try their new Boda-boda, a so-called midtail bicycle, meaning that while it does have cargo space, the Boda-boda is not as large as the Mundo. Maybe it is just me, but I found it riding like a cruiser while, due to its aluminum frame, probably waying less.

Overall it was fun to meet Steve, experience first hand how much he knows about bicycles, and witness his commitment to bicycling in general and to Yuba in particular.

           

Posted in Cargo Bicycling | 2 Comments

Bicycle Maintenance

Posted on July 18, 2013 by

As more and more people realize the damage using a car does to our environment and to our wallets bicycling gets a better press in spite of all the discomfort we associate with it. And wait until you actually get on one: the freedom is hard to describe to someone who commutes by car.

That’s why we will talk about bicycle maintenance again Saturday, July 27, from 5 to 7 pm (I pushed it later toward the evening so it is not so hot…) at Gabor’s Neighborhood Bicycle Resource Center, 44 Beston street in the framework of another Transition Amherst Reskilling workshop. As usual the workshop is free, bring yourself and your questions. If you bring your bike we will oil it too.

References:

Lubrication

Adjusting the Adjustables

Adjusting the Adjustables II.

Special Note:
This time please let me know if you are coming via my email: A local CSA, Many Hands, will bring all their interns, so we already have a sizable group!

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Climate Summer 2013

Posted on July 9, 2013 by

A team of five is traveling through Western Massachusetts exclusively by bike: they are the 2013 Western Massachusetts Climate Summer team. They are building the movement against climate change, and are working specifically to put a preemptive ban on fracking in Massachusetts.

Their upcoming events this week:

Tuesday 7/9, 6-8pm showing of “Gasland” documentary at Northstar Downtown Hadley

Sunday, 7/14, 2-5 pm at Lampron Park in Northampton: rally/celebration of bill H.788 to ban fracking in Massachusetts – we will be having the activist band Melodeego come play a set and also have several speakers – this is our BIG event so please spread the word!

Here’s a blurb for our rally to share:

Anti-Fracking Rally
Lampron Park, Northampton – July 14, 2-5 pm
Come out to our rally to celebrate H.788, A Bill to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing, co-sponsored by Peter Kocot from Northampton! Activist band Melodeego (music from the movement, powered by the people!) will perform, along with several speakers to rally excitement towards a frack-free future for Massachusetts.

Posted in Cargo Bicycling, Dialogues and Conversations, Other Projects | Leave a comment

Interview Downloadable

Posted on July 8, 2013 by

Our interview can finally be listened to from here – two MP3 format sound files, about the transition movement and transition towns in general, and what is going on in Amherst in particular. They may take a while to download, as they are large files:

First Part

Second Part

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WMUA interviews Transition Amherst

Posted on June 19, 2013 by

We will talk about Transitioin Amherst’s story and future. John White and Gábor Lukács will be interviewed on WMUA’s Focus program this Sunday, 12 noon, by Eleanor Manire-Gatti. Please tune to 91.1 FM to listen to the program.

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How to take care of your bike

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

As more and more people realize the damage using a car does to our environment and to our wallets bicycling gets a better press in spite of all the discomfort we associate with it. And wait until you actually get on one: the freedom is hard to describe to someone who commutes by car.

That’s why we will talk about bicycle maintenance Saturday, June 22, from 3 to 5 pm at Gabor’s Neighborhood Bicycle Resource Center, 44 Beston street in the framework of another Transition Amherst Reskilling workshop. As usual the workshop is free, bring yourself and your questions. If you bring your bike we will oil it too.

References:

Lubrication

Adjusting the Adjustables

Adjusting the Adjustables II.

Posted in Cargo Bicycling, Reskilling Workshops | Leave a comment

Board game is printed!

Posted on June 7, 2013 by

First version of the Growing Resilience board game is out

I have the first printed version of the “Growing Resilient/Growing Resilience” board game. And it looks fabulous! See more about it here.

And watch for a date to play it soon on this blog.

Gabor

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Edible Plants Workshops by John Root

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

Edible Wild Plants of the Northeast
Tuesday May 14, 2013
7:00 PM until 8:30 PM
Jones Library, 43 Amity St. in Amherst
Free
Local naturalist, permaculture practitioner and landscaper John Root will
give a comprehensive introduction to the identification and uses of wild
plants for food and beverage. This 90-minute Power Point presentation
features distinguishing characteristics, seasons of availability, habitats,
methods of preparation, and nutritional value of our region’s most common
and appealing wild plants. Food samples will be offered to participants,
illustrated pamphlets will be distributed, and plants will be offered for
sale. Call John at (413) 961-9059 for information. This program is
supported by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council.

**********

Edible Perennial Gardening and Landscaping
Tuesday June 4, 2013
6:30 PM until 8:00 PM
Wheeler Memorial Library, 49 E. Main St. in Orange
Free
Local naturalist, permaculture practitioner and landscaper John Root will
offer a 90-minute power point presentation about growing trees, shrubs,
vines, canes, and herbaceous plants for produce in New England.
Informational flyers will be available, and plants will be offered for
sale. Flyers will be distributed and plants will be offered for sale.
Call John at (413) 961-9059 for information. This program is supported by a
grant from the Orange Cultural Council.

**********

Edible Perennial Gardening and Landscaping
Tuesday June 19, 2013
6:30 PM until 8:30 PM (updated from 7:00 PM!)
Sunderland Public Library, 20 School St. in Sunderland
Free
Local naturalist, permaculture practitioner and landscaper John Root will
offer a 90-minute power point presentation about growing trees, shrubs,
vines, canes, and herbaceous plants for produce in New England.
Informational flyers will be available, and plants will be offered for
sale. Flyers will be distributed and plants will be offered for sale.
Call John at (413) 961-9059 for information. This program is supported by a
grant from the Sunderland Cultural Council.

**********

Edible Wild Plants Walk
with Naturalist and Landscaper John Root
Saturday June 15, 2013
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Brookfield Farm, 24 Hulst Rd. in Amherst
Informational flyers will be distributed and plants will be offered for
sale.
Free, all ages welcome.

**********

Edible Wild Plants Walk
with Naturalist and Landscaper John Root
Saturday June 8, 2013
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Simple Gifts Farm, 1089 N Pleasant St. in North Amherst
Informational flyers will be distributed and plants will be offered for
sale.
Free, all ages welcome.

Posted in Reskilling Workshops | 1 Comment