Tomorrow is the Silent Auction

Go to Working Bikes.org

Click on the Auction tab

Look at all the wonderful bikes offered at the Silent Auction. The Hawthorn Warrior pictured here, starts at only $40.00. This bicycle is way cool!!! Hope to see evryone on Sunday and Happy Bidding!

Chicago International Vintage Poster Fair

2012 Chicago International Vintage Poster Fair
Friday March 30th - Sunday April 1st, 2012
Over 25 international dealers with more than 10,000 original vintage posters for sale vetted by the IVPDA (International Vintage Poster Dealer Association).
Chicago Cultural Center 77 E. Randolph

Friday, March 30, 5 - 9 pm
Friday evening preview to benefit The Evening Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago ($35members/$45public) Benefit tickets available at the door.
Saturday, March 31, 10 am - 7 pm ($15)
Sunday, April 1, 11 am - 6 pm ($15)
All tickets are valid for the entire weekend

Silent Auction April 1st

Check out this Hawthorn starting at $25.00

It's just screaming, "Bid on me. Take me home. Clean me up and restore me."

Bike Racks

March 26, 2012|By Jennifer Delgado, Chicago Tribune reporter
More than 120 bike racks will be installed in Des Plaines this year, from the downtown area to local schools and parks.

The racks, purchased with a Cook County Model Communities Grant, are geared toward encouraging healthy lifestyles and reducing obesity in Des Plaines. They will be installed in parts of downtown, around the Metra station on both sides of the tracks and in the Oakton Street commercial district, said Derek Peebles, city engineer.

Silent Auction Treasures

Check out this Classic J. C. Higgins starting at only $50.00

Join us on Sunday April 1st 2012 as we bid adieu to over one hundred and twenty of our most collectable and noteworthy classic bicycles!

Bidding in the silent auction begins at 9:00am at our store at 2434 S. Western Avenue in Chicago. Tallies will be taken promptly at 11:00am Cash, Credit & Donations accepted.

See the bikes being auctioned on these Flickr or Picasa sites ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11455896@N04/sets/72157629287827585
https://picasaweb.google.com/105343535384806421578/SilentAuctionBikes

Tour De Cure

Event Date: May 27, 2012

Start Location: Grant Park

Event Managers: Lisa Poppe & Steve Hansen

Email: lpoppe@diabetes.org or shansen@diabetes.org

For more information, call 1-888-DIABETES

Schwinn Spitfire

Is it a Schwinn Spitfire? We are not sure, but at a starting bid of $50.00 we know this one will be a mover at the April 1st Silent Auction.

The Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by German-born mechanical engineer Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1945) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century and today it is a sub-brand of Pacific Cycle, owned by the multi-national conglomerate, Dorel Industries.

Tour of North Park

Tour of North Park
Sunday March 25, 2012 at 1:00 PM
Peterson Park at 5801 N Pulaski, Chicago

North Park is Chicago Community Area #13 and sits just 9 miles northwest of the Loop. It is cradled between the two branches of the Chicago River, and is part of or immediately adjacent to some of the most developed and realized bike trails in the city. It is a quiet residential area, sharing parks, tree-lined streets and marvelous buildings with adjacent Albany Park, Forest Glen, Lincolnwood, Lincoln Square and West Ridge. It is the home of in-city Universities North Park College and Northeastern Illinois University and the north side’s own Chicago Park District-run nature center on the grounds of a former Tuberculosis Sanitarium.

The area’s modern history begins around 1855 when a small village was platted out of the newly formed Jefferson Township. As the area expanded in a series of population expansions it left behind a built history of stunning residences, schools, commercial, religious and civic buildings designed by the likes of Clarence Hatzfeld, Paul Gerhardt, Otis and Clark, Jarvis Hunt and John Krivanek. It is an ideal community for a bike tour passing through quiet neighborhood side streets, main commercial thoroughfares and along preserve and park trails.

Buy Tour - $9

Frank Lloyd Wright Bicycle Tours

Greenline Wheels is proud to partner with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust for Pedal Oak Park Tours!

Oak Park is home to the world’s largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Explore its picturesque historic neighborhoods on a guided bicycle tour of 22 Wright-designed structures. Wright sites featured on this tour include Wright’s Home and Studio, Unity Temple, Frank Thomas House, Heurtley House, Cheney House, Furbeck House and more.

Bring your own bike or one can be provided (included in tour admission).

Time: 9:30 am (Please allow extra time to navigate around nearby construction!)
Tour Length: 2 hours
Location: Tour begins and ends at Greenline Wheels,
105 S. Marion Street, Oak Park (a few blocks from Wright’s Oak Park Home and Studio).

Admission: $30 Preservation Trust members; $35 non-members.

Tour conducted rain or shine. Features building exteriors only.

Bicycle Sharing

The Emanuel administration has selected an Oregon-based company with operations in the U.S. and overseas to operate Chicago's first large-scale bicycle-sharing rental program starting this summer.

Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., of Portland and its equipment manufacturer, Public Bike System Co., were chosen over two competing bids to make 3,000 bicycles available at 300 solar-powered self-service pick-up and drop-off locations this summer. The program will be expanded to a total of 5,000 bikes and 500 docking stations by 2014, city officials have said.

City Hall estimates the total capital and start-up costs at $21 million, adding that $18 million will be covered by federal funding aimed at improving air quality and easing traffic congestion and the remaining $3 million will be provided by the city.

Operating costs of the bike-sharing program are expected to be paid for entirely by membership and user fees, advertising, and sponsorships, with no additional cost to city taxpayers, mayoral spokesman Tom Alexander said.

Chicago Treibune March 14, 2012

Little 500

2012 Little 500
Women's Race: Friday, April 20th at 7:00pm

Men's Race: Saturday, April 21st at 2:00pm
"No million dollar, no cut-contracts, no agents, just athletes giving it all they have--the essence of sport."--Brent Musburger
The Little 500 is the biggest intramural event on the IU campus and the largest collegiate bike race in the United States. Riders compete in four-person teams in separate races for men and women around a quarter-mile cinder track.

More than 25,000 people attend the races every year, with the proceeds used for working student scholarships at IU. The 2011 races allowed the Student Foundation to give away more than $35,000 in scholarships.

Time trials are this Saturday

The Phantom

Check out the amazing starting price of this Schwinn Phantom going up for Silent Auction on April 1st

Summer Employment

JOB DESCRIPTION: BICYCLING AMBASSADOR

START DATES: March 12, May 14 and June 18, 2012.
LENGTH OF JOB: Through Mid-October, 2012.
COMPENSATION: $10-$13 per hour, approximately 35-40 hours/week.

PURPOSE AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Active Transportation Alliance, a non-profit advocacy group, manages a city-funded education and encouragement program called the City of Chicago’s Bicycling Ambassadors. The Bicycling Ambassadors teach motorists and bicyclists to better share city streets. They do this by speaking face-to-face to members of the public. Teams of Ambassadors deliver bicycling expertise personally in demonstrations and conversations in public places, at community events and to children at summer day camps.

Happy St Joseph Day

Happy St Joseph Day to all our friends associated with Working Bikes

The Bike Library

The Bike Library is a volunteer-run community bike project located in Iowa City, IA. They repair donated bikes and check them out to the public. Bikes are priced with a deposit (ranging from $30-$100). If a bike is returned in good condition within the six-month checkout period, the full amount of the deposit will be returned to the user. Alternately, patrons can choose to keep their bikes and forfeit their deposit.

St. Patrick's Day

It is in the shelter of each other that people live

- Irish Proverb

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our volunteers!

The Ides of March

I'm your vehicle baby,
I'll take you anywhere you want to go

Check out this Monarch Silver King up for the Silent Auction on April 1st.

Keep Moving Forward

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein

March Madness

If you think the action on the hardwood it hot, check out the bikes up for the April 1st Silent Auction.

This Schwinn New World starts at $70.00. Check out that sprocket!

Bikes 4 Books

Bikes 4 Books Chicago is a fundraising event that hopes to raise money for the non-profit organization Pangea Educational Development (PED). PED's mission is simple: to empower individuals and unite communities through making education more accessible and affordable.

On the weekend of March 17-18 a pack of riders will make the journey down from Milwaukee to Chicago (~100 miles), raising awareness, collecting pledges per mile, and having a blast. If you are interested in riding, please email Matt Pietrus at

bikes4bookschi@gmail.com

or see the facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/events/329537030421882/?ref=ts


Come join the ride today!

Another featured Community Bicycle Organization: Bike Saviours Bicycle Collective, Tempe, Arizona

Mission Statement
We are an education center devoted to hands on teaching of bicycle maintenance and repair, safe riding, cycling laws, and other esoteric bicycle knowledge.

We are a non-profit bike shop that provides affordable used bikes and parts, low-cost repairs, and repair/ maintenance workshops.

We are a community recycling project that collects used bikes and bike parts from donors and turns them into functional modes of transportation for people in Tempe. We also explore other modes of re-use for scrapped bike materials. And they have a cool logo! Keep up the good work!

Classic Sears

Check out this classic Sears bicycle up for auction on April 1st.

Introduced just after the First World War by several manufacturers, such as Mead, Sears Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward, to revitalize the bike industry (Schwinn made its big splash slightly later), these designs, now called "classic", featured automobile and motorcyle elements to appeal to kids who, presumably, would rather have a motor. If ever a bike needed a motor, this was it. These bikes evolved into the most glamorous, fabulous, ostentatious, heavy designs ever. It is unbelievable today that 14-year-old kids could do the tricks that we did on these 65 pound machines! They were built into the middle '50s, by which time they had taken on design elements of jet aircraft and even rockets. By the '60s, they were becoming leaner and simpler.

International Partner Spotlight

Maya Pedal is a Guatemalan NGO based in San Andrés Itzapa. They accept bikes donated from the USA and Canada which they either recondition to sell, or they use the components to build a range of "Bicimaquinas", (pedal powered machines).

Pedal power can be harnessed for countless applications which would otherwise require electricity (which may not be available) or hand power (which is far more effort). Bicimaquinas are easy and enjoyable to use. They can be built using locally available materials and can be easily adapted to suit the needs of local people. They free the user from rising energy costs, can be used anywhere, are easy to maintain, produce no pollution and provide healthy exercise.

They make water pumps, grinders, threshers, tile makers, nut shellers, blenders (for making soaps and shampoos as well as food products), trikes, trailers and more.

Hawthorne

Check out this 1920's Hawthorne up for the Silent Auction April 1st.

Hawthorne brand bicycles were sold through the Montgomery Ward stores. Most of the bicycles offered by Montgomery Ward were fairly generic, however there were some exceptions. The 1939 Hawthorne Zep was an exclusive design, and so was the 1940-41 Hawthorne All-American, designed by famous industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. Most Hawthorne bicycles were manufactured by either the Cleveland Welding Company whos own brand was Roadmaster, or H.P. Snyder, makers of Rollfast bicycles.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is a national holiday.

Remember, a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

Stingray

Check out one of the bikes in the Silent Auction. No foolin' it's April 1st.

This was my bike of choice in 1973. I asked for one of these and I got a Sears 5-Speed.

I eventually got a green Schwinn Varsity. Never got the Stingray. I may bid on this one. How about you? Check out all the bikes on the AUCTION TAB on our website. Happy bidding!

See The Show, before March 9th closing

Gala Gallery is a new space owned and operated by Tyrue “Slang” Jones, a veteran Chicago artist who helped pioneer Chicago's graffiti scene in the ‘80s. Bike Winter Art show organizers Steven Lane and Stuart Hall are pleased with the space and the show itself. When asked what one might expect from this year’s Bike Winter Art Show, Lane remarked, “This show has come together beautifully and has exceeded our expectations. Thirty-five artists stepped up with an array of work that captures so many aspects of the cycling experience, from the rush of breaking the tape at the finish line, to the sublime slow crawl of a peddling elotes vendor.”

Get Out!

It is Tuesday, March 6, 2012 @ 3:12, and it is 68 degrees outside.

Get outside now!

International Partner Spotlight

Global Alliance for Africa works with schools, students, teachers and volunteers to raise funds to build libraries, collect books and provide educational materials for community libraries/resource centers throughout East Africa. Global Alliance’s libraries primary focus is on providing educational resources to orphans and other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS as a foundation for them to rise out of poverty.

Happy Birthday Dotsie Bausch

World Record holder, six-time U.S. National Champion and a two-time Pan Am Championships gold medal winner, Dotsie Bausch is an incredible cyclist, gorgeous model, hard-working coach and business owner. In her 12th year as a bike racer, she spent nine of those years as a member of the U.S. National Team and has competed in the biggest road races around the world for professional teams including Jazz Apple, Colavita-Sutter Home and T-Mobile. Dotsie is a current member of the USA National Track Cycling Team training for the 2012 London Olympic Games, and her birthday is March 6th.

Happy 175th Chicago!

Chicago will be celebrating its 175th birthday today.

Today marks the day the city was incorporated -- March 4, 1837 -- and there will be events across the city to mark the occasion.

The Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St. the North Side will host a day of activities, including meet-and-greet sessions with actors playing historical luminaries such as Jane Addams. The cafe in the museum lobby will be selling hot dogs for $1.75 and there will be a commemorative cake made by Chicago's Bleeding Heart Bakery. Admission is free; the museum is open from noon to 5 p.m.

On the South Side, the DuSable Museum of African American history, 740 E. 65th Place, will feature interaction with historical characters and musical performances while celebrating DuSable Day. Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, a Haitian-born immigrant, was Chicago's original settler. Recognized as "the father of Chicago," he built his first home in the late 1770s on what is now the site of the Pioneer Plaza outside the Equitable building.

The museum is open noon-5 p.m. today; admission is free. There's also a special Sunday night concert from 7 to 9 p.m. featuring a musical tribute to DuSable led by composer Douglas Ewart; admission is $5 for DuSable members and $10 general admission.

Here's another option: Visit the city's oldest surviving building, Clarke House, at 1827 S. Indiana Avenue. It was built in 1836.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Bike Machines

Many people living in developing countries often lack access to electricity, making something as common as a washing machine a luxury. However, thanks to some MIT students, a new human-powered machine may now be one step closer to reality.

After working four years to develop their concept, students and staff at MIT built the pedal-powered washing machine primarily from bicycle parts and empty barrels. The machine was designed to be easy and inexpensive to manufacture,mostly using parts and tools that are readily available anywhere in the developing world. And since the machines can be made locally, their use can even generate new jobs.

If you'd like a demonstration of bike machines created by the staff at Working Bikes, stop on in. We are also available for school science class demonstrations, and energy fairs.

Chicago Bike Swap

Spend part of your Saturday with hundreds of other cyclists from across Chicagoland at the Chicago Bike Swap!
Shop for parts for your bikes, great gear or stop by the bike corral, to get a new bike or “swap” your old one (for $5/bike)! They will have great informative presentations, bike games, delicious lunch for sale and hot coffee.
Admission is $5 at the door for Active Trans members, $10 for non-members. No need to purchase tickets in advance.
Have some stuff that you would like to sell? Vendor registration is open! Sign up as an individual, company, non-profit or club: http://chicagobikeswap.org/vendor-information/

Stop by Working Bikes afterwards. We are open from Noon to 5PM Saturdays. See you then!

St Patrick's Day Ride

Join the Wheeling Wheelmen

Make plans now to ride
Chicagoland's Earliest Invitational
The St. Patrick's Day Ride

March 18, 2012

Wauconda High School
555 N. Main Street
Wauconda, IL

"What the heck....anybody can ride when it's warm!"

Wrigley Field Road Tour

The Wrigley Field Road Tour is an annual 100-mile charity bike ride led by Chicago Cubs Board Member Todd Ricketts and World Bicycle Relief President, F.K. Day. to benefit the global work of World Bicycle Relief and the local work of Chicago Cubs Charities. Whether a first time century rider or a seasoned pro, this event is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a beautiful northshore ride while making a difference. In 2011, 650 riders raised over $435,000 for World Bicycle Relief and Chicago Cubs Charities. Don't miss out! Sign up for updates or follow the tour on facebook and be among the first to receive 2012 ride details.

Registration opens March 1, 2012