Gettin’ real excited for the Clips of Faith event Friday September 3 at 6pm- a night of films, New Belgium brews, local food from 12South Taproom and Las Paletas, and bike riding! A ride to the event will be leaving from Halcyon at 5:45pm!

Admission to the event is free, and all beer sales benefit Soundforest, a local non-profit committed to greener communities- we hear all funds from Clips of Faith will go to purchasing bike racks for Nashville and planting some trees around town! From Soundforest:

“New Belgium Brewery has an outdoor independent film / beer tasting event that is traveling around to select cities in the USA. Nashville happens to be one of the lucky locations. Admission to the event is free. 100% of the beer sales from the event will be donated to SoundForest.org. Funds raised will help purchase and install much needed bike racks around town. Oh yea, and plant some more trees too.

A giant movie screen will be set up in Public Square Park downtown (same location as LIVE ON THE GREEN). The projector will begin it’s magic at sundown. What’s showing? A compilation of short films submitted to New Belgium Brewery.”

You can read more about the event at the Soundforest website !

Make sure you join us for the ride! 5:45! Bring your friends!

Go on and get registered for this year’s Dirt, Guts & Donuts- “the most delicious mountain bike race”- which will be Saturday October 16 at the Lock 4 trails in Gallatin, TN. We are happy to be a sponsor again this year for the race.

This is not only an exceptionally fun race- which requires riders to munch on donuts while riding- but it benefits Ride for Reading, one of the best local non-profits (in our humble opinion). Ride for Reading distributes books to low income schools by bicycle, which not only promotes literacy but also cycling!

Sign up can be found here!

We be blazin' on bikes all over town

Make sure to pick up an issue of this week’s Nashville Scene- featuring the Halcyon Bike Workshop in the cover article. The article highlights eleven local movers’n'shakers whose innovative ideas and programs are changing Nashville for the better.

From the Scene:

What if there was a program that reduced traffic, instilled confidence and leadership in at-risk kids and moved our city — even if slightly — toward a more sustainable future? Around Nashville, scores of young people rely so heavily on adults to drive them from place to place that they don’t really know any other way to get around. And they end up missing a lot as a result — exercise, for one, but also the opportunity to become more independent, and to really experience their surroundings, rather than just cruising past them. Enter the Halcyon Bike Workshop, a partnership between Oasis Center, the nonprofit community center in Watkins Park, and Halcyon Bike Shop in 12South. Together, they put broken bikes in the hands of underprivileged kids and get them to fixing.

But the workshop doesn’t just teach kids how to build and repair the bicycles — it asks them to pass their knowledge along to others in their community and sends them home with their own bike once they’ve completed the program.

Asked how he got the idea for the workshop, Daniel Furbish of Oasis Center says, “I was simply a bicycle enthusiast who happened to work with youth. … I took a group of my middle school students to Shelby Park, and half of them, although they all live within a two-mile radius, had never been there. They didn’t even know it existed.” So he started researching bike co-ops, then found out there was a new bike shop in town looking to partner with a local nonprofit. The timing was perfect.

“Yeah, it was pretty serendipitous,” says Elise Tyler, co-owner of Halcyon, whose mechanics — including crankhead and local musician Seth Murray, who designed the first course syllabus — donate their time. The workshop was modeled after similar programs in Austin and Portland, with the added twist of open workshop hours, when students can come in and work on their own. The bikes themselves are donated, and the workshop is funded through a grant. Just a year and two months after starting, it’s already paying dividends.

“We have run into workshop graduates on several occasions who have told us that they helped fix their little sister’s flat tire, or tightened a friend’s stem when it got loose,” Furbish says. “What makes this special is that their average age is 13, and they are taking on the role of a teacher/mentor.”

Furbish says they’re looking to start a new mobile workshop that will travel to different community centers and libraries throughout the week, and beyond that, Tyler says, to grow it for all age groups. In the meantime, Nashville’s youth are finding a new way to get around town.

“We hand them a Nashville bike map and say, ‘Here’s how to get from your house to Shelby Park,’ ” says Furbish. ” ‘Make sure you wear your helmet.’ “

—Steve Haruch

Read the full article, and don’t forget to vote in the BEST OF NASHVILLE 2010 reader’s poll! Best Bicycle Shop is listed under ‘Goods and Services,’ you have to vote in 20 categories for your vote to count! Plus, you can vote everyday if you like ^_^

Last year, you went above and beyond our expectations and we were named BEST BICYCLE SHOP by the you, dear customers, in the 2009 Nashville Scene Reader’s Best of Nashville. It was huge for us- 2008-2009 was our first year in business, and to be named Best Bicycle Shop in our first year…let’s just say we have take great pride in the title.

The 2010 Best of Nashville vote is underway, and we are determined to keep our title. At Halcyon, what we do is a labor of love. Everyone involved in the shop believes that a bicycle can change a life, and that one changed life helps change the world. We treat each customer and bike with respect and attention, no matter if it is a $100 bike from a department store or a $1,000 carbon fiber road bike. We strive to provide products and services that are of great quality while still at affordable prices. Our commitment to the community is at our heart- from the Bike Workshop to our community bench, supporting local rides and races, and selling locally made products.

Please vote Halcyon Bike as Best Bicycle Shop! It is located under “Goods and Services,” and you have to vote for 20 categories for your ballot to count. Thank you so much and please tell your friends!

it's true. we do.

The Belcourt Theatre will be hosting a screening of “Chasing Legends,” a film about the Tour de France,  this Thursday:

“There is no greater sporting event in all of cycling than the Tour de France. Chasing Legends touches on the rich history, passion and true grit of The Tour as seen through the eyes of Team HTC Columbia along with commentary from Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Eddy Merckx, Lance Armstrong and some of the sports most prolific heros. With a stunning array of HD cameras, poignant and touching interviews, “Chasing Legends” will take viewers deeper into the pro peloton than ever on a roller coaster ride of action, story and emotion.

Chasing Legends highlights the greatest heroes in professional cycling with a dramatic show of teamwork and panache from Team HTC-Columbia through the 2009 Tour de France. The film takes viewers on an absolutely epic ride into the race action.”

Thursday, August 5th – Show at 7:00pm
$10.00 General Admission

Ride for Reading is an amazing program that promotes literacy and cycling by distributing books via bicycle to low income children. Did you know there is only 1 age appropriate book for every 300 kids in low income neighborhoods? RfR has distributed hundreds of books in the Nashville area, but in order to continue their work, a new space for their headquarters is in immediate need.

Ride for Reading needs a space between 650-1,000 square feet where they can store, sort and distribute books. Their budget is very limited, but they may be able to pay a small amount in rent. However, if the space is donated, it is a tax-deductible write off for the landlord. Please help this amazing program if you or someone you know may be able to contribute. Email info@rideforreading.com – thanks!

Toks Omishakin, Nashville's Bike Czar

There is a great article from this weekend’s City Paper on Mayor Karl Dean’s initiatives to make Nashville a more bikeable city. At the forefront of this mission is Toks Omishakin, who for years has worked to make Nashville a bike friendly city. Mayor Dean recently created a new position for Omishakin- to oversee the Bicycle and Pedestrian Activity Committee (BPAC), which has made him Nashville’s own “Bike Czar.” Pretty rad job, if you ask me.

Omishakin’s main goals for the city?  That every Nashvillian lives within one mile to a sidewalk, two miles to a bikeway and four miles to a greenway. To reach this goal, Nashville is planning to add 50 additional miles of bike lanes and sidewalks, and 20-25 miles of greenways.

Bigger than this, though, is Omishakin’s goal to change the mindsets of Nashvillians. We all have a friend, family member or coworker who thinks it is ‘crazy’ to ride your bike to work when you could drive. As a city, we need to educate our friends and neighbors that cycling and walking aren’t for crazy people- it is a conscious choice to live healthier and happier.

GO NASHVILLE 2010

This Saturday, July 17, Mayor Dean host a ride/walk celebration of our beautiful greenways! From the Mayor’s office:

The bike ride and walk will start on the “hill” in Shelby Park (green star on map attached) next to the Cumberland River Bike/Ped bridge.  The 2-mile walk will be lead by Anne Davis and the 6-mile bike ride will be lead by Mayor Dean. Participants are encouraged to walk or ride to the event and to the start location.  All bike riders are encouraged to wear helmets. Vehicle parking is available at 2 locations:  Shelby Bottoms-Forrest Green Trail Head (off of Forrest Green Drive) , and Wave Country in Two Rivers Park.

JULY