All, Apologies for the late Digest. Last Thursday we had our Gender Aware Shop Hours. It was not well attended but the weather always plays a factor. There is staff interest in making it a recurring event which could help boost attendance. We also collaborated with Urbana Parks District at a pop-up DIY maintenance event at the Phillips Recreation Center in Urbana on Saturday. Twelve or so folks signed up and I think we saw 8 or so people over the two hours. People seemed to enjoy it and we’ll look to do it again next year.

This week is almost over but we did start our first week of M – F. Our Tues/Th shifts were less busy than M/W/F but as the weather warms and the word gets out, we’ll undoubtedly get busy on those days as well. The slow start is welcomed as we’re not fully staffed yet.

Next week projects to be more in the 50s than the 40s so we’re getting towards some warmer weather.

The numbers:

Sales: $974.50
Bikes (refurb): 4 for $660
Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $60
Memberships: 8 for $240
Tires/tubes (used/new): 15 for $73

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

Sarthak Prasad presented the findings from Bike Day 2021 event to the National Bike Summit on March 29, 2022! Bike Day 2021 was organized on September 14, 2021, with the Bike to Work Day event in the morning from 7-10 am and Light the Night event in the late afternoon/evening from 4-7 pm. Please see attached the presentation.

All, We were closed last week for Spring Break. This week will be our last M/W/F of the semester as we’re reopening to 5 days a week. Today will be busy if the weather is any indication. Extra-curricular events for the week are our Gender Aware Shop Hours and our Urbana Parks District event on Saturday. Next week I’ll be virtually attending the National Bike Summit.

The numbers:
Visitors: 24

Sales: $358.55
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
Tire/tubes: 6 for $36

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Visitor numbers ticking upward in line with the thermometer—Friday’s snowfall notwithstanding.  

We’re closed this week for Spring Break and hitting the ground running when we return. We’ve got Gender Aware Shop Hours on Thursday and our Urbana Parks District event on Saturday. From there it’s back open M-F. 

I’ll only be working today and tomorrow before taking a few days for myself. I’ll finish up a few more shop builds during my abbreviated week in advance of warmer weather post-spring break.

The numbers:

Visitors: 23
Sales: $358.55

Bike (refurb): 2 for $280
Tire/tubes: 5 for $16

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Warm weather last week brought in a good number of folks. On Friday we even had a wait for repair stands.

Of the seven shop build bikes I safety checked last week zero passed inspection. This’ll be a good opportunity to retrain staff up on what constitutes a safely functional bike.

Elsewhere, it was our first week being mask-optional but elective compliance was near 100% and we had zero conflicts with folks about the change in policy.

This week I’ll finish up the aforementioned seven bikes, interview some prospective employees, and game plan for post-spring break when things are really picking up. Spring is coming!

The numbers:

Visitors: 24
Sales: $567.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
Memberships: 7 for $210

Tire/tubes: 7 for $26

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, We’ve got a backlog of bikes in need of test rides/final tune-ups that I’ll happily attend to with the warmer weather this week. We’ve got a new batch of hires starting as well.

This week I’ve got trainings with staff and I’ll start game-planning with my team for our ramped-up programming for March/April. Warm weather = more bikes.

The numbers:

Visitors: 17
Sales: $356.50

Bike (refurb): 1 for $160
Build-a-Bike: 1 for $30
Memberships:  2 for $60

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Last week we held our Uni High Agora Days classes from Tues – Fri. It went very well with all the students engaged in learning and tinkering on the bikes. One student even said they’d return to volunteer, which was great. All 3 of the bikes were mostly done by week’s end. We also received some quality donations from a local bike shop and started overhauling those bikes for sale. I’ve also hired a new Program Assistant to help me out off-hours.

This week I’ll be meeting with the Urbana Parks District to discuss our Maintenance class we’re collaborating on next month and getting more bikes ready for the sales floor. We’ll see how busy we are today with the very warm weather.

The numbers:

Visitors: 11
Sales: $91
Memberships: 2 for $60

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, With the snowstorm last week, we were closed on Wednesday but were able to reopen on Friday. Visitor numbers took a hit with a foot of snow and whiteout conditions (no surprise there). This week I’ll get some bikes from Urbana (snow derailed that plan last week). We’re down to the dregs of steel-rimmed 3 speed schwinns—bikes I’m not exactly comfortable selling in the dead of winter considering their compromised braking/stopping. Our donations of late have all been Walmart-level, unfortunately. We’ve got about 8 bikes on the sales floor as of now.

The numbers:

Visitors: 16
Sales: $180
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tire/tubes: 4 for $30

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator