By Cheyenne Hohman
Bicycle collectives are community resource centers. They usually offer free workshops or trainings, or simply have a workshop open to the public furnished with necessary tools and other supplies for bike maintenance. Many also offer services as a space to refurbish bikes that have been donated or scavenged, and given to those that invest the work on the bicycles—or they are sometimes sold as fundraisers. Bicycle collectives are not-for-profit by principle. They are run in a de-centralized, collective fashion.
Bicycle collectives from all over the southeastern region of the US and beyond are headed to Louisville, KY this spring. For three days, the FreeWheel Bike Collective in Louisville is hosting the second annual bicycle collective conference, or Bike!Bike! Southeast.
The Louisville gathering is an offshoot of the national bike conference Bike!Bike!, which was hosted in Minneapolis last year, but has been held in a variety of cities around North America. This August, it will take place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from August 12th-15th.
Discussion at the national level two years ago provided the catalyst for the first southeast region’s Bike!Bike!, hosted in Atlanta, Georgia. Due to the fact that collective organizing in the southeastern United States has a different flavor and a different set of circumstances than many other regions (when considering legacies of oppression, racial inequalities, “southern values” and other obstacles), it was decided that the southeast should have its own thing going on.
Voila! Bike!Bike! Southeast was created.
The event is intended to be a conference for collective members and organizers, but there will be a lot of community members and bike-lovers from everywhere. Thus far, a variety of workshop presenters have submitted their ideas, some DIY crews are going to bring their skillsets to do some welding and fixing, and there are plans for more than one group ride around town. There will be entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings (including plans for a Drag Race, of the gender-bending type!), in addition to workshops during the day.
Collective members will have a chance to get to meet one another, as well as engage in focused discussions all weekend. These talks will culminate in a caucus on Sunday that will allow participants to review the event as a whole and to consider where the future direction of bike collectives is headed. It’s an important opportunity to make decisions as a greater community of bikers rather than at an individual/collective level.
Bike!Bike! Southeast will take place this year in Louisville, Kentucky from March 19th-21st, a mere hour’s drive away (or a long afternoon by bicycle, if you prefer). Attendees are encouraged to register in advance to give the organizers an idea of how many folks to expect. The registration fee is $15, but it’s sliding scale. The FreeWheel Collective is receiving most of its funding to put on the event through a grant from the Metro United Way.
Though it’s an event intended for members and organizers of bicycle collectives, it’s also open for community involvement—so if you want to contribute a few volunteer hours to help things run smoothly, bring your old helmet for someone else who forgot theirs, or do a workshop on how to fix a bottom bracket, you are encouraged to do so.
Bicycle enthusiasts from all backgrounds, genders, colors, and skill levels are welcome!
For more info, visit the website:
www.bikebikesoutheast.wordpress.com
Or email us: bbse2010@gmail.com
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