Phoenix Bikes -- News

Shop Closed for Holiday Break

Colin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:08:51 -0800

The Bike Shop will be closed from Tuesday, 12/23, until Friday, 1/2/2009. Sorry for the inconvenience, and see you in 2009!

About My Miserable Incident.

Sami — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:47:38 -0800

The sun was in the middle of the sky, you couldn't hear a sound in the middle of the woods. John, Mehros, Michele, William, and I were on a ride with our bikes, we were all in single file line going up and down, hitting rocks, jumping over logs, having trouble keeping up with each other till it happened. In the middle of nowhere, I was going downhill on the rocky ground, a big rock appeared in my way, there was no choice for me but to brake, I braked so hard that the bike was flipping in the air, and I fell about five feet down from the hill. In a moment I thought I died, I opened my eyes and saw Michele and Mehros Running towards me in a worry and calling the others for help, I got up and couldn't believe that I was alive, luckily the ground was soft because of the leaves and the mud. But unfortunately, my bike's stem was ridiculously broken, I couldnt even figur out how that happened. So we all had o go to John's house because it was close to where we were, and took turns pushing my broken bike. finally when we got there, we put our bikes in John's backyard and finished our trip in his car. What a ride! The End

THE SCAVENGER HUNT

Colin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:18:14 -0800

a story from super-intern Michael Gammariello... Now everyday is totally different and I want to write down my very first day in detail but I will work on that one for next because its gonna be really hard. I am now writing about a Thursday that took place the first week in October and it was beautiful Fall day but I am not sure if it was completely a fall day because the leaves had barely begun changing color. The temperature for the day was in definitely in the 70s and it was ridiculously sunny and it was kind of scary for me reminding me about LA. I got to the shop after amazing ride which got my heart pumping. I was feeling a little heated up and ready to go and did not want to be stuck in the shop for the day. One of the volunteers came up with the idea of doing a scavenger hunt. So I elaborated on that idea by using this bike that was only half ready to be used for the scavenger hunt. The other volunteer, Mohawk, and I stripped more parts off of the frame and started hiding things all around the park. We had to pick out more parts from the used bin that would later be used to put on the bike. Once all the parts were put away which it was total of 13 we started to map out a key that give little clues and directions of where the parts where hidden. So kids start showing up around 3 after they are out of school and I was talking up the scavenger hunt around the shop. Richard, Elvis, Felix and Miguel were all like nahh thats lame, why would we want to do that. I was just like come on lets just do it because it is so nice outside and we can race on our bikes during the scavenger hunt. They finally agreed and we started the hunt around 4. There were teams of two going crazy around the soccer, baseball fields and playgrounds looking for all of these parts. Once all of the parts were found then they all came up to me and John(lead Instructor) and we gave them the key to unlock the frame out of our storage trailer. At this point is was about 5 and still sunny and beautiful outside. We close at 6 though, so I challenged all the participating kids Richard, Elvis, Felix and Michael to attempt to build up the bike in an hour as a team. To this day I still have not seen better team work then those 4 putting together the Blue Landis Hybrid bicycle. It was like watching a soccer team score an incredible goal during the world cup. I was talking to Colin while the four were working on the bike and we decided that we should sell the bike for 80 dollars and split the money 4 ways for the four of them. When we told them this they took their bike building skills to another level and finished by 6ish...Wow I was amazed that had actually happened all so fast and it was soo awesome to be part of it. The thing that struck me the most was how they were not willing to participate and once they did it actually turned out pretty well. It made everyone feel great in the around the shop and I noticed that rubbed off on other kids and they began to want to have more shop projects to work on. So when I got home and I was all amped and was just yelling out the story to all the roommates and a couple of others that were in my apartment when I arrived. I was sweaty and tired but the day brought complete joy and this is the reason I joined Phoenix Bikes for something like this to occur. On Friday there was no grand scavenger hunt but was noticeable was that Miguel, Felix, Elvis and Richard all came back that day and stayed till 8 when we closed. Working on their own bikes and shop bikes which made that Friday a rather productive day. They normally do not come on Fridays and honestly have not been dropping by much since. Though, that Thursday I did feel the connection and it was great and it made me happy. I was happy about it in itself and not just the illusion and dream of it but the reality of everything that took place. I want more of these experiences and yes more have come and more will come. This was a day I will not every forget.

a rainy saturday

Colin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:10:02 -0700

a pretty quiet afternoon in the shop on saturday, after a busy morning with all the youth mechanics working inside, away from the rain. Sami put the finishing touches on the bike he build from scratch (see photo) and after much trial and error getting the derailleurs just right, it purred around the park. excellent. hope it faired well in its formidable first test: A Team Phoenix ride in October - a trip to DC in the rain and howling wind!

Travelling to Trexlertown

Sami — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:24:38 -0700

The biggest swap meet

some observations

Sami — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:18:57 -0700

leaves and my new bike, yellow & bright. almost year's end, still with a backpack and pencils. Now fun is done, teacher's waiting.

Hanna closed us early on Saturdday

Sami — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:38:03 -0700

The weather was very good this week, and all the mechanics enjoyed it by working under the sunshine. Except for Saturday, it a very stormy morning, the shop was closed, and all of us didn't get to go on a ride. By the way, as I noticed, the shop didn't sell enough bikes and only received a few donations. But that didn't matter, because there were a lot of projects going on in the shop, and every body felt satisfied working on them. As I could see this week, Collin had been working really hard without John, and he was the one who've done the most in the shop; serving customers, doing reapers, etc... this was all for this fine week.

August Race at Wakefield

Sami — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:34:31 -0700

This is Sami reporting from Wakefield Park, Fairfax County. Today is a very special day, there is a bike race going on, people from every where are registering for it. Luckily, Monir and Arron are going to be in the big race. But Collin, John, and Marie are just spectating. the racers warmed up very hard before the race, they're all looking forward to be in first place. The race started, and all the racers were vicious. All the racers tried hard to get passed each other, some of them did, some couldn't. the race was finished, unfortunately some of the contestants got injured including Arron, but luckily Monir was safe. Finally we heard some good news, Monir got third place in the race and every body was proud of him. Most people liked this race, they said it was very interesting. the funny thing about this is that some people men wore funny cloths and dresses, they said it makes comfortable. So that was all for this magnificent race.

9.1.08

Sami — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:35:47 -0700

This week started with unstopping rainy days, but it turned out to be very hot on the weekend. The shop had been busy since the week started, and we worked really hard repairing bikes and getting the customers what they needed. Fortunately, we'd received lot of donations and sold a lot of bikes, so everybody was satisfied because they all did a fine job. As a reward for all this hard work we did, we got to ride to the Planet Arlington Festival located in Roslyn. We also got to show the light sculpture that Mr. Luke invented with some of the mechanics' help, as well as give people a chance to make a small modern light for themselves with the materials we brought to the festival. That day I felt that I was actually so useful: I helped every customer that was in front of me. So did the other mechanics, especially Mr. Luke. He was the one who prepared for all this; I suggest he felt exhausted, but we must be proud of him. So that was a pretty busy evening, but also fun because we all got to hang out with each other and have fun. That's all for this terrific week. Don't forget to stay tuned for the coming week's magnificent news.

9.6.08

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:10:47 -0700

survived hanna and now looking fast forward to fall - an intern, MIcahel, starting that we're very excited about, and another round of Earn-A-bike offsite, tons of curriculum development to be done in the shop, lots of partners to connect with, programs in DC to putting together, tools and small parts to get to.... yikes. Maybe I shouldn't make a list. Can't beat these days for biking though.