Cooks sprinkle pixie dust, space goat eats holidays

From Kreigh Hampel an OG Cook a.k.a. "Dr. Rot:" about Burbank's good bike deeds.
Heck! The story made it into the Chicago Tribune!

My Dear trouble-making cooks,

I want to tell you one story (of many) that all started at the Bike Kitchen a few years back. I also want to give you props and remind you why your work is so freak’n worthy. The attached picture shows bikes at Burbank City Hall. It all started 6 years ago when I first walked into the Kitchen at Eco Village and my jaw dropped. Not long after, I started lurking around the kitchen at hel-mel, then started helping out as a back door cook.

It was the Kitchen bubbles that caused me to wrastle a couple of cooks down to Burbank’s first bike tune up event at the YMCA, later there were tune up classes at the Recycle Center, then some bike tune up tents at neighborhood events and at the Chandler bike path. The bike thing was growing.

So last year we put together a holiday bike campaign with the Salvation Army. Again, it was pollinated with bikes donated from the Kitchen. We cleaned up about 10 bikes for kids. More mysteriously however, cooks and ridazz at large were suspected of silently spreading pixie pollen all over town. Turns out Burbank got inoculated with a crazy passion for embracing collective bike culture just before the holidays. The holiday bike campaign exploded with nearly 25 volunteers. Nearly 90 bikes were donated and about 60 were given to kids who need a little good stuff.

The bike thang took on a life of its own. City employees and local wrenchers partnered in a high level of good humor and energy. Is there conspiratorial bike pollen blowing around? Wasn’t it just a decade ago that LA's bicycle rebirth was germinating in the cracks of the cultural creatives, the voluntary poor, and the car-free believers? Now it's blowing into the suburban master plans, codes, and annual budgets of government!

Lucky for Burbank the goofball pleasure of wrenching together has coalesced a feisty and well oiled troop. It’s a straight up crew of odd bedfellows (police, fire, community development, city attorney, public works and transportation planners) and it’s gone so far as christening a spiritual leader whose only credentials include a Harley, a pressure washer and a big socket set. Go figure, we all have perma-grin this week over bikes.

As if the three stooges had come down from the shag carpet mountain top, we have a new, twisted, unconventional scripture for laying down peace between “THEM and US” and a chance to do a little good around this place. My hats off to all of the new bike comrades, rag-tag believers, rust belt eliminators, punsters, doers and big hearts. This has been the highlight of my year and it is all because of the Kitchen!!!! I repeat, this glob of bikes on the steps of city hall all started with the Kitchen! Your work is rippling bike love around the world!

Happy holidays you merry mobsters! Lotza love, drot


LOTSA LOVE BACK TO YOU, DR. ROT!

We are closed from December 20th - January 2nd. Regular hours resume Monday, January 3rd.

TO ALLA YOU BIKE BUDDIES, HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE BICYCLE KITCHEN.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Meet the Cooks::Jonah!

Name: Jonah A. Schwartz (Daisy) | Cookin' since: Summer 2008

Holds down: Sunday (FUNDAY)

Rides: Baby Blue Volume Cutter (Trying to build up a touring bike now)

How'd you hear about the Kitchen: My aunt told me about scoops. I stumbled upon the Kitchen after getting (the best) ice cream (ever). The rest is history...

Where's your favorite place to ride your bicycle? I'm always happy when I'm on my bike, so wherever it takes me. I ride Mar Vista a good amount. Lotsa friends around those parts.

What do you do when you're not at Kitchen? Bike with friends, bike alone. Listen to music. Read. Climb whatever i can get my hands (and feet) on.

Echo Park Community Parade::2010

Every year the Bicycle Kitchen is invited to lead off the Echo Park Community Parade, a neighborhood holiday parade on Sunset from Douglas to Park. The idea is to get a bunch of Cooks and FOK's (Friends of Kitchen) to ride their bikes and whoop it up at the head of the parade. Last year we got rained out and on, but we prevailed and our spirits lifted. You can read about it in last year's blog post.

This year was a beautiful, late fall Los Angeles blue sky kind of day. The kind of day when you realize why people want to come here from Minnesota and other icy places. Sunny and 70s where logic tells you (well, if you're from Alaska or those other places,) there should be snow.

Coral, JP, Kelly and Ryan were joined in the booming sounds of Fred Schneider's Christmas album and the awesome marching bands by Echo Park Film Center's Paolo (we couldn't believe he came back!) and Lisa--in a bear costume! and their friend Tommy from Toledo AND we all joined forces with the Echo Park Time Bankers on bicycles, tricycles, and roller skates clad in cardboard and wielding cardboard swords. Killing capitalism for free! We made quite the rag tag crew and the crowds loved us! Especially, Gigi who steamed full speed ahead on her trike and Abe Lincoln with her "Pose as a Time Bank Dollar Bill." We couldn't go slow enough (see photos--there's a lot of standing around.) But, we had fun, fuN, FUN! And this year we kept our trophy. Next year maybe we'll all make a cardboard float to pull along.

December Newsletter

Wow. We can't believe 2010 is coming to a close! The Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina would like to take a moment to wish you the Happiest of Holidays and share some of our accomplishments for this past year.

• We celebrated Five Years of wrenching at Heliotrope and Melrose (Hel-Mel)!

• One of our Cooks, Arlen Jones helped establish a community-driven bike repair space called Bici Digna in downtown Los Angeles operating through LACBC's City of Lights Campaign.

• We formed the County Cycling Collaborative (CCC) with Bike Oven, BikeRoWave, Valley Bikery, C.I.C.L.E. and LACBC. We applied for and were awarded funding through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's RENEW Initiative. The CCC will be working together for the next two years under an obesity prevention initiative to do two programs: 1. Creation of a paid “Bike Wrangler” who will work with agencies and institutions to acquire abandoned bicycles and redistribute them to the co-ops and individuals through 2. Public workshops on safe riding and repair skills. One of the goals of the project is to establish other Bicycle Kitchen-type co-ops in new neighborhoods,

• We have taken final steps towards completing an additional bicycle repair education space in partnership with the CRA and Council District 13 at a development above the Metro at Hollywood and Western. Named The Bicycle Kitchen: Wrench&Ride, it will begin construction in early 2011 and will be open by September.

• Not to mention we continued to provide countless open hours at 706 Heliotrope Drive where our volunteer Cooks help folks learn how to repair and maintain bicycles themselves at a suggested donation, never turning anyone away for lack of funds.

If you're as excited and proud of these accomplishments as we are and are looking for a great place to make a year end Tax Donation, consider giving to The Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina. We are a 501c3 nonprofit and can provide a TAX ID letter. You can donate HERE. We also gladly accept bicycles and bike parts donations.

Here's some final workshops, events and holiday closure dates as we wrap up 2010. And, hey, we have some slick new stickers perfect for your head or down tube. Come on in and pick one up in person--they're free!

:: ::

ECHO PARK HOLIDAY PARADE//

12/10/10 | 10am - 1pm

Ride your bike and join the Bicycle Kitchen as we lead it off. It's become a tradition.
http://www.echoparkcommunityparade.com/


:: ::

WORKSHOPS //

December 18th BASIC WRENCHING. Bring your bike.

Dec 19th - INTRO TO WHEEL BUILDING. Everything you need to know BEFORE you lace your wheel.

Both workshops are from 9:30-11:30am at the Bicycle Kitchen and have 6 slots.
$30 suggested donation. No one turned away for lack of funds. RSVP HERE.

:: ::

HOLIDAY CLOSURE //

The Bicycle Kitchen will be closed from December 20th - January 2nd.
Regular Open hours resume Monday, January 3rd.

:: ::

Ride On and Happy New Year!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks.

www.bicyclekitchen.com
www.bicicocina.blogspot.com

Meet the Cooks::Arlen Jones!

Name: Arlen Jones

Cookin' since: 2007

Holds down: Mondays recently, though that's debatable. My baby is La Bici Digna, which is a Bicycle Kitchen-founded co-op located at a day labor center in Downtown. We're developing the space so that the folks at the center and the neighborhood can run the co-op themselves and it can be a community resource to cyclists in Downtown and Skid Row.

Rides: iGreen KHS 29er single-speed mountain bike with fatty slicks. Some jerkos stole it last Day of the Dead, but I stole it back. Thank you.

How'd you hear about the Kitchen: Bored and looking for group rides, heard about a block party with vegan sandwiches and beer, sponsored by something called the 20 orange. Rode with my buddy from Sylmar. We drank and rode around the neighborhood for the first time. Within a period of 6 hours we blew through our 3 spare tubes (don't hop curbs, kids. and don't remove a tire with a car key) and walked our failed selves back to the block, party over, night descended. Two ladies in summer dresses (KELLY and RAMONA!!!) invited us into the kitchen and showed us how to actually replace our tubes (without ruining them), as well as how to patch a tube. Then, they told us to come and volunteer. The rest is history...

Where's your favorite place to ride your bicycle? In traffic.

What do you do when you're not at Kitchen? Organize friends and family for the zombie apocalypse. Read books. Wrench and teach at La Bici Digna (again!). Hang out with my cool girlfriend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

// Just a reminder that the Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina will be
CLOSED for the Thanksgiving Holiday:

Thursday, November 25th - Sunday, November 28th.
Regular hours resume Monday.


// If you're itching for some bike knowledge, there are still slots left in this
Saturday's Wheelbuilding Class. Check it out and RSVP here.


// Thankful for the Bicycle Kitchen? DONATE!



Have a great holiday with family and friends and your Bike!!

Ride On,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

November Workshops have slots open!

Hey everyone,

We've got some slots left in a couple of rad new workshops. We're trying to offer repair workshops other than just Basic and perhaps you need a little nudge to take a leap of faith and try something new!

Saturday, November 20th 9:30 - 11:30am
Advanced Wrenching Part I: Bottom Brackets and Headsets
No prerequisites, just the desire to learn more about bottom brackets and headsets. Taught by longtime cook and workshop instructor, MaBell.

Saturday, November 27th 9:30 - 11:30am
Intro to Wheelbuilding
Everything you need to know about a wheel BEFORE you build it! Introductory, taught by longtime cook and workshop instructor, MaBell.

$30 suggested donation.

RSVP to get the remaining slots!

Check back to our workshops page for future classes. And of course, you can always learn how to fix your bike during our regular open hours, too!

Ride On,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Tenth Annual CRANKSGIVING!!!!

This is a real feel good alleycat of a way to kick off your holiday season!

More info here.

Big in Japan!

An article about us in online publication, 811DE.com

Thanks, Kiyomi!

Flickr Pics of TDF

What a great day for the First Ever Tour De Fat in Los Angeles. The Cooks of the Bicycle Kitchen had a blast staffing the Merch and D.I.Y. Craft booth alongside our own nonprofit info booth.

The Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina would love to send a GIANT Tony Danza hug back at New Belgium for coming to our town and being so generous.

Next year will be even better!

Thank You.

XO and Ride On.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks.

Tour De Fat TOMORROW!!!!

Come Celebrate all things Bicycle starting with a Bike Parade at 11am!! (Registration for the parade begins at 10am.)

COSTUMES STRONGLY ENCOURAGED!!!

May the revival roll forth in the name of the bicycle, and may you ride true to The Ten Commandments of the Tour de Fat:

1. Put no means of transport before thy bike: Come by bike because not only are bikes fun, but they help stave off some of our most wicked ills: Traffic, laziness, and pollution. Tour de Fat has a solution: ride this day, every day, and definitely when Tour de Fat heads your way.

2. Honor all other bikes: All bikes are good bikes, and all those who ride them are good people. This is the one Bike Festival that cherishes bicycle diversity on our Cruise-ade through town.

3. May every generation come forth: This is a family friendly event. Costumes, bikes and a parade? We were thinking like kids when we created Tour de Fat.

4. Thou shall come as a participant not a spectator: It's a costumed celebration of human-powered transportation. Muscles not motors, coasters, v-brakes and rotors. Come in your favorite alter ego, because when everybody's weird, no one is.

5. Thou shalt not bring booze; But enjoy the supplied malted adult refreshments responsibly: Please do not bring any outside alcohol on the ride or into the park. It could result in getting the event shut down...don't be that guy. And when you imbibe in our tasty brews, remember this is a Bicycle Festival with beer, not the other way around.

6. New Belgium shalt not profit: Our goal is to raise money for bicycle and environmental charities. New Belgium Brewing Company does NOT retain any of the events' proceeds. Please think of your $5 beer tokens as donations to a worthy cause. All sales are final; beer tokens do not expire and will be accepted next year (does not include TEXAS).

7. Remember the purpose, and bring not your pooches: No canine friends allowed this year. We're a dog-loving Brewery, but sadly not all municipalities and parks are. Please leave your best friends at home for their safety and the safety of others.

8. Keep the day true with thy good juju: The ride is free, but we suggest a $5 donation to the good bike advocates who are putting it on for you (does not include TEXAS). If you give more, you will not incur flats, mechanical troubles, or dry skin for a while…maybe. This is a celebration of the bike, not an anti-car rally. All tools have their place.

9. Thou shall rise early: Since Tour de Fat is a free show, we sometimes get more folks than we can accommodate. Once we're full, we will handle overflow like a restaurant or bar: one in, one out. We reserve the right to determine the appropriate crowd size in the name of safety and enjoyment for those inside.

10. Thou shalt not steal thy neighbors' bike: Don't even think of leaving with a bike that doesn't belong to you. Modern-day horse thieves will be dealt with by angry mob, pitchforks, and torches.

The Neighborhood

Since the Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina moved to the block in 2005, a lots happened with other storefronts surrounding us. A potshop begat the Under the Gun Tattoo Parlor and smokeshop; the Pure Luck Korean restaurant begat Pure Luck Vegan Beer garden started by an old cook, Ben Ling; National Mule art studio begat Cateye, vintage eyeglass shoppe and the little orange shack across the street was the first Orange 20, also started by 2 cooks, TJ and Jim C and when they moved to the bigger space on the corner we took it over. The only thing steady around here in the last 5 years besides us and Pizza Pauls is Scoops, home of the tastiest homemade ice cream around.

So, what's new? Welp, the orange shack which we were affectionately calling The Pantry has begat a groovy green colored bicycle powder coating shoppe called The Fixx Carlton! And City College Cafe has begat Cafécito, coffeeshop number two in Cafécito Orangico's mini-empire of Angel Orozco and Mitch Hale in partnership with the Bicycle Kitchen's very own, Molly Ortiz! Super exciting. So here's how you can plan an afternoon for the block, affectionately known as the Bicycle District:

1. Make an appointment for noon at the Bicycle Kitchen to strip your bike of its parts.
2. Drop it off at The Fixx Carlton for a powder coat of your favorite color.
3. Get yourself a tasty cup of fresh drip by the cup from Cafécito.
4. Check out the hot frames and sunglasses at Cateye.
5. Walk across the street to Orange 20 and pick-up some new parts for your bike or cycling cap.
6. Check out Vlad the Retailer next to O20. He silkscreens his own designs onto tshirts.
7. Eat a vegan lunch and drink a tasty local brew at Pure Luck.
8. Check in on your bike.
9. Go back across the street and get an ice cream cone from Scoops.
10. Make an appointment at the Bicycle Kitchen to reassemble your bike.

Come Back!

You can also get tattoed at Under the Gun, check out the Fake Gallery next to the Ukrainian Cultural Center, get properly fitted for a brassiere at Jenette's Bras, meditate at Against the Stream, take a class at LACC and/or eat a pizza at Pizza Paul's! There's even theaters, the Faultline and used bookstore nearby.

Ah, the neighborhood. Just be sure and ride your bike, cuz parking SUXX!

Ride On.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Five Days until Tour De Fat!!!

Get your costumes ready! Hope to see you there.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

CICLAVIA ReCap from Two Cooks

Andrew West provides the words and Jonah Schwartz the images. It was a truly great day!

"Well, we made $750 that day. I was impressed. And then between the cycling insanity and the gangster ganja, I couldn't figure out where the door lock was, had Jenny call Jonny Green to find where it had gone, and later realized I had put it where we found it, earlier in the day."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarlo/sets/72157625012256945/show/

REI Northridge Bike Corral THIS Saturday!

Saturday, October 16th | 10am - 2pm

REI Northridge is partnering with the Bicycle Kitchen [www.bicyclekitchen.com] to promote the bicycle as a fun, safe, and accessible form of transportation, to foster healthy urban communities, and to provide a welcoming space to learn about building maintaining, and riding bicycles. Each individual that donates a salvageable used bike to La Bicicocina will receive a 15% off REI coupon towards bike accessories (exclusions apply) and will also be entered to win a raffle prize valued at $100 retail. The first 15 people who donates a reusable bike will receive a $15 REI Gift Card so make sure to be the first in line! ** We will not be accepting kids bikes.**

18605 Devonshire St.
Northridge, CA 91324

The Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina would especially like to thank Jean Lim, Outreach Specialist for organizing this for us!

In the heart of L.A., wide open spaces, courtesy of CicLAvia - latimes.com

In the heart of L.A., wide open spaces, courtesy of CicLAvia - latimes.com

Woo Hoo! Go, Bobby, go!

Bikes and Books Go Together

Outreach events can be a fun way to hip people to the awesomeness of your DIY/DIT bike workshop. Even the boiling sun couldn't keep us down. Here's some pix from JP's Library Ride and our booth at the WeHo Bookfair. Big shoutouts to JP, Craig, Alex, Mabell, Xotchil, Kelly, Muff and Kate.

Library Ride to the We-Ho Book Fair this Sunday!!

SEPTEMBER 26^th | 10am-6pm

Leaving from the Bicicocina to the West Hollywood Book Fair.

Meet at Kitchen at 9:30 and leaves at 10am. There will be musical accompaniment, treats, short readings, spoke cards and FUN.

A Bicycle Kitchen Booth at the Weho Book Fair: Teaching some workshops (like fixin' flats), handing out BK info, hanging out and assisting kids/people making crafts from 10am - 6pm.

This is all put together by JP, Craft Captain and F.O.K.

Write me at jparrsnip@mac.com for more info or to RSVP.

AND, may we add, curated by Tess Lotta, at 2pm, we've got THREE bicycle poets reading their stuff: J de Salvo, Jen Hofer, and Eric Howard. The program is a half hour, and is called POETRY & PAVEMENT

Two Awesome Bicycle-Related Events!

cicLAvia::October 10th!

Tour De Fat::October 23rd!

Vuelta!

(from Allison of City of Lights)

Hi all-

If you are free September 18th, and you want to come ride with a bunch of awesome day laborer ciclistas, then I'm sending this to all of you! We're hosting our second City of Lights ride with the jornaleros we work with. The flier says "First BiciDigna ride", being that that is a (relatively speaking) more recent project, as the intention is to highlight the workers of the IDEPSCA downtown center.

The workers themselves planned the route, using our Spanish Resource Guide map of safer streets to then end in a soccer game. Mind you, this is some of the guys' first bike rides ever--they usually ride alone to work--so I wanted to invite other community members to help show them how exciting they can be!

Please feel free to forward-the flier is not translated into English, but the ride will be leaving from the CARECEN day laborer center (1600 Shatto, x-sts Wilshire/Union, excuse the 7th st mention on the flier) at 12pm and end at Pan Pacific Park at 3pm.

Anybody with extra tools, supplies, or caboose skills are VERY welcome! Please let me know ahead of time so we know to expect extra help.

Thanks and feel free to call if you have any questions!
Allison
213-629-2142

Fire Sale and BBQ in the Pantry Parking Lot

When: Sunday, August 29th from 2-8pm

What: We are moving out of the Orange Shack at 713 N.Heliotrope and need to get rid of stuff in order to cram it all into 706. It's a bicycle-related yard sale with some bbq treats on top. Help us clean house and raise funds at the same time!

more info: kelly@bicyclekitchen.com

Bici Digna's First Wheel Build!

As taught by Arlen Jones. Photographs by Andy Rodriguez. Bici Digna meets every Wednesday from 9am-12pm at IDEPSCA and is a collaboration with LACBC's City of Lights program.

Retreat! Retreat!

This past weekend the Bicycle Kitchen closed up shop and jumped on our bikes for a 30+ ride to camp and retreat at Malibu Creek State Park. We used the two days to refresh ourselves on consensus and what it means to be a cook and...HAVE FUN together! It was facilely facilitated by Matt Edwards, he of the crocodile hand gestures and dreamy eyes.

Here's a photo. One of the crew that rode out on Saturday. THANKS FOREVER to our savior, Jenny, in a support vehicle who saved our butts in the 105º ride through the Valley. A super shout-out to the crew of organizers, Arlen, Joe, Colin, Drew, Molly, Elena, Erica Potter, Jonny Green and JP!

La Bici Digna at the US Social Forum

Check it out!

Have a Great 3 Day Weekend! We sure will.

Happy Friday of Fourth of July Weekend!

We will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the July 4th 3 day weekend. Hopefully, the cooks will ride their bikes, go to the beach, eat good food, drink tasty cold beverages, pet their cats and generally goof off!

We'll resume regular hours on Tuesday from 6:30-9:30pm.

Happy BBQ-ing!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Saturdays

Just wanted to give you the heads up that we will be having limited open hours for Saturdays until further notice.

We will be open on Saturdays from 12 - 3pm.

We're a volunteer-run organization and some of our regular volunteers are traveling or moving or switching work schedules over the summer.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Want to remedy this? VOLUNTEER!

Ride On.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

It WAS Epic!

What a night! More to come, but in the meantime a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Jesse Kretschmer, who had the winning bid on the Bare Knuckle.

A GIANT thank you from the Bicycle Kitchen!

We hope you enjoy it.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

LAST DAY OF OUR FIRST EVER FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN!

1. Donate NOW here.

2. Bidding for the Bare Knuckle is TIED at $600. Waiting to hear from Tie-ees to see what's next. We will have a laptop at The Strange tonight for final bids until 10pm. Email bksilentauction@gmail.com with a current and maximum bid.

3. There will also be a Silent Auction with some amazing donated goods and services from our neighborhood: Pure Luck, Scoops, Glamour Hair Studio, Vlad the Retailer, Jenette Bras, Eyetailor, Orange 20, Matrushka, Spice Station, Secret Headquarters, Echo Park Cycles, Little Red Riding Hood, Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Center, Free City, Chubby Boob, Square One and Tracko.

4. The Cooling Time kicks it all off at 9:30

5. Nautch Project around 10:30

6. Very Be Careful dances us into tomorrow.

7. DJ Evan C puts us in the mood between performers. (we'll especially need him when we clean up!)

8. All the cooks go home and collapse.

Come join us and celebrate our five years on Hel-Mel!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Bare Knuckle Update and other Silent Auction Opportunities

The bidding on the Bare Knuckle bicycle is now at $500! And to tempt you with some other silent auction items that will be available to bid on the night of our EPIC BENEFICT CONCERT we're thrilled that the people in our neighborhood are kicking in. And it's not just bikey stuff!

Glamour Hair Studio, Vlad the Retailer, Jenette Bras, Orange 20, Tracko, Little Red Riding Hood, Cafecito Organico, Cateye, Matrushka just for starters.

HIP, HIP HOOOO RAAAAAY!!!

Hope to see you there!

Your friendly neighborhood cooks.

LET THE BIDDING BEGIN!

As part of our Final Fundraising Event we are pleased to announce that we've got this amazing bicycle to auction off. Thanks to a donation from Eurasia and the resourceful cooks, we've put together this lime green Bare Knuckle track bike. We are starting this silent auction off online today and will end the online bidding on Saturday.

The specs:
56cm
Velocity Deep V's laced to Miche Hubs
Miche Primato Track Crankset
Soma Sparrow bars on a Nitto Stem

Minimum Starting Bid: $250

Email: bksilentauction@gmail.com with your current AND maximum bid.

We will post daily updates on where bidding lies here and on lafixed and midnight ridazz forums (as well as email bidders.)

We will announce the winner at our EPIC BENEFIT CONCERT.

Good Luck and Ride On!

SATURDAY, JUNE 12TH

The Bicycle Kitchen presents
AN EPIC BENEFIT CONCERT
to celebrate the end of our first fundraising campaign.

WHEN: Saturday, June 12th from 9pm-1am. (Doors at 9, show at 9:30)

WHAT: The Cooling Time | The Nautch Project | Very Be Careful

WHERE: The Strange 4316 Melrose Ave, LA 90029

COST: $8-20, sliding scale

PLUS: Silent Auction, Dancing, Bike-themed Vending Machine, Bicicocina Swag and Patches, Food and Beverages.

And, featuring DJ Evan C between sets

more info contact: kitchen@bicyclekitchen.com

FINAL FUNDRAISING PARTY::BOOKED!

Well, folks, it's been a hefty, hearty 3 month First Ever Fundraising Campaign here on Hel-Mel for us Cocineros.

What better way to end than to shake our booties to VERY BE CAREFUL!!!

Saturday, June 12th, 9 pm at The Strange.

Full Details to follow.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks.

Arch & Wiener Tango::Pics

arlen jones::race concocter

julianna (jp) parr:queen of fun times, designer of beauty

Just a few photos from the "NOT-AN-ALLEYCAT" Race that kicked off our super fun "Tubesteaks Under the Stars" Fundraising Sunday. It was a great day. If anyone has more photos from the rest of the day's festivities let us know!



Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks.

Blessing of the Bicycles

Gabriel, Kelly, Jonny Green, Molly and the Father

An awesome way to spend a morning on Bike to Work Week!

It's tradition.

Blessing of the Bicycles

An awesome way to spend a morning on Bike to Work Week!

BICYCLE VENDING MACHINE!!!

What you have to look forward to at the Tubesteaks Under the Stars.

This Sunday, May 23rd starting at 4pm at the Bicycle Kitchen.

BRING QUARTERS TO THE FUNDRAISER for you are gazing at none other than the patented, high-end, bastion of technology-oriented BICYCLE VENDING MACHINE. NO ONE gets ripped off! Our technicians spent hours packing every single little bubble with scads of obscure and fantastic trinkets and prizes. We're not guaranteeing that you will receive something you need, but we can guarantee that is is probably something you want,or that someone else will covet what you get.

Will you get a pin? A plastic bug? A compass for your bicycle? Only your purchase will tell you...

Arch & Wiener Tango::NOT-AN-ALLEYCAT RACE

Hustle.

A "not-an-alleycat" race for teams of two that starts at the Bicycle Kitchen at 12 noon. After the race stick around for Tubesteaks Under the Stars!

The Arch and Wiener Hustle is a checkpoint race through the alleys of East Hollywood and the hills of Silverlake. Isn't that romantic?

Oooh yeah, just like you with your significant other: teams of two will split up, take on their own challenges, meet up at check points, and get all sorts of messy.

And, believe me, baby. There will be a top AND a bottom. Did we mention this involves hot dogs? Get some.

Check-in begins at 11. Race starts at Noon. Real Noon, not Hipster Noon. Prizes for the first three wieners. That's not a pun.

TUBESTEAKS UNDER THE STARS!::The Full Flyer!

designed by Julianna (JP) Parr

TUBESTEAKS UNDER THE STARS!

THIS MULTI-PRONGED EVENT (GET IT) BROUGHT TO YOU BY JULIANNA (JP) PARR IS GOING TO BE OUTTA THIS WORLD! YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT! FULL DETAILS ON ALL OF THE AMAZING FUN AND FOOD WILL FOLLOW TOMORROW. THIS IS TO ENTICE YOU.

¡NEXT WEEK IS BIKE TO WORK WEEK!

Next week is Bike to Work Week.
USE IT AS A CHANCE TO GET YOUR NON-BIKERIDING PALS TO BECOME BIKE BUDDIES!!!!
CHECK OUT the following activities:


* Bike to Work Week Kick Off - Monday, May 17th, 8 AM
LAPD Headquarters, 100 W. 1st Street, LA, 90012


* Blessing of the Bicycles - Tuesday, May 18th - 8 AM
Good Samaritan Hospital, 1225 Wilshire Blvd., LA 90017


* Bike to Work Week Downtown LA Ride - Wednesday, May 19 - 8 AM Departure
Meets at 7:45 at Olvera Street Plaza


* Bike to Work Day - Thursday, May 20th
California Bicycle Commute
http://www.californiabikecommute.com/
More information on events in LA County


* Bike to School Day - Friday, May 21st

Blessing of the Bicycles

May 18th at 8am marks The Annual Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital in LA!! Since this super feel good bike event started the Bicycle Kitchen has sponsored/been a part of it. Come eat breakfast and see all of your sleepyheaded bike buddies get their bikes blessed by multi-demoninational spiritual leaders. Cycling caps off to Dr. Andy Leeka, President and CEO and B.o.B instigator!

http://www.goodsam.org/

Meet the Cooks! Patrick

Name: J Patrick Adair

rides: Dumpster fixie.

Cookin' since: Last year? | Holds down: The day of war and law.

How'd you hear about the Kitchen: Hipster foster brother.

Where's your favorite place to ride your bicycle: Spinning class.

What do you do when you're not at Kitchen: Making dioramas.

Why do YOU think people should donate to our five year fundraising campaign: How else will the children get their handlebars cropped? How!?

Tour De Fat is coming to Los Angeles!

THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jenny Foust

(w) 303.433.7020

(c) 720.244.4268

jfoust@csg-pr.com

New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat Spins into 13 Cities this Season

Come ride, dance and experience the ultimate freedom: trading your car for a bike!

Ft. Collins, CO, April 15, 2010 – Clip a card in your spokes and fluff the rainbow wig …Tour de Fat is back for its 11th season! New Belgium Brewing’s traveling celebration of all things bicycle rolls through 13 cities this year, raising money and sharing bike love. At each Tour de Fat stop, one person will help honor mankind’s greatest invention, the bicycle, by handing over their car keys and committing to a year of car-free living.

For the fourth year in a row, Tour de Fat is looking for volunteers to accept the swapper challenge. One volunteer in each city will give up their car and receive a hand-built Black Sheep (http://www.blacksheepbikes.com/) commuter bike. The volunteer is chosen after submitting a video or essay describing their desire to live sans-car for a year. To submit an application, log on to http://www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat.

“The car-for-bike swap is the pinnacle of the day, illustrating one person’s true belief in all that a bicycle can offer,” said Bryan Simpson, spokesman for New Belgium. “Bikes represent freedom, fun, fitness and folly while helping the environment. It’s a way of life that we live and share at New Belgium.”

Tour de Fat kicks off in Chicago on June 26 and wraps up in Austin on October 30, with first-year debuts in two cities, Milwaukee and Los Angeles. The tour originated in Ft. Collins, Colorado to increase awareness and participation in cycling as a sustainable form of transportation. Since then, it has become a rite of passage celebrated by bike enthusiasts of all skill levels across the land.

Why Tour de Fat is a Must-Attend Event:

• Tour de Fat encourages everyone to embrace their inner-cyclist and ride the streets as a cohesive carnival of creativity. Each show begins with a costumed bike parade that stops traffic and turns heads along the way. (Costumes are highly encouraged!)

• Tour de Fat seeks to leave as small an environmental imprint as possible and composts and recycles waste from each tour stop. The waste diversion rate for 2009 was 94 percent.

• Tour de Fat is free to participants, but beer and merchandise proceeds go to local cycling non-profits. So far, Tour de Fat events have raised more than $1.25 million for philanthropy.

• All musical acts perform on a solar-powered stage with decorations made from recycled materials, trucks and transport use biofuel sourced from recycled waste oils, and all vendors operate off the grid.
  

• 
  This is a pro-bike celebration, not an anti-car rally…non-cyclists are more than welcome to join the festivities.
  

See http://www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat for the Tour de Fat credo, schedules, videos and to submit your entry to swap your gas guzzler for a shiny new bicycle. Also visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Belgium-Tour-de-Fat/10150099069050417?ref=ts.

Tour de Fat 2010 will cycle through each of the following cities:

June 26 – Chicago, Palmer Square Park

July 3 – Milwaukee, Humboldt Park

July 10 – Minneapolis, Loring Park

July 31 – Seattle, Gasworks Park

August 14 – Portland, Waterfront Park

August 21 – Boise, Anne Morrison Park

September 4 – Fort Collins, Mothership

September 11 – Denver, City Park

September 25 – San Francisco, Lindley Meadows in Golden Gate Park

October 2 – San Diego, Balboa Park

October 9 – Tempe, Tempe Town Park

October 23 – Los Angeles, L.A. Historic Park

October 30 – Austin, Fiesta Gardens

About New Belgium Brewing CompanyNew Belgium Brewing Company, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, began operations in a tiny Fort Collins basement in 1991. Today, the third largest craft brewer in the U.S., New Belgium produces eight year-round beers; Fat Tire Amber Ale, Ranger IPA, Sunshine Wheat, Blue Paddle Pilsner, 1554 Black Ale, Abbey, Mothership Wit and Trippel, as well as a host of seasonal releases. In addition to producing world-class beers, New Belgium takes pride in being a responsible corporate role model with progressive programs such as employee ownership, open book management and a commitment to environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.newbelgium.com.

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Meet the Cooks! Ryan

| Name: Ryan Lindsay Bartz |

Rides: i'm now on the city streets with a fixed gear Sanwa 400 (old steel frame Japanese road bike) that i built at the kitchen (with loving help of various cooks...shout out to Coral!)! I also have a Trek Madone for the racin', roady times.

Cookin' since: A month or two? when was i officially Cooked? i can't remember!

Holds down: Bitchen shift (and other random times when i'm feelin especially bikey)

How'd you hear about the Kitchen: A couple of friends mentioned it on different occasions and i didn't need convincing to check it out! strategically placed vegan restaurant and ice cream parlor confirmed my destiny to volunteer on this block.

Where's your favorite place to ride your bicycle: Uhh...everywhere. I have come to absolutely love riding in the city. You begin to discover new routes, new sights, the city unfolds in a brand new light...the way los feliz slopes into silverlake that connects to echo park and leads into downtown...it's a new adventure each time out. It really doesn't matter where i'm going or what for...just the ride and the experience of living in the moment...there's no other feeling like it. and on a sunny day...PCH is a wonder.

What do you do when you're not at Kitchen: Well, when i was employed i worked as a producers' assistant at Titmouse animation studio and part-time at Babycakes, a vegan bakery. Unemployment brought more ride time, ice hockey, obsessive music listening and juggling! Step 3: now i'm leaving town for an extended backpacking jaunt and will travel nomadically around africa and to teach english in south korea...and hopefully ride some bikes there too. So currently...while not at the kitchen, i'll be traveling, photoing and blogging (and thinking a lot about how i miss the Kitchen).

**NEW QUESTION**
Why donate: Bicycle Kitchen thrives not only on the volunteered time that the Cooks provide, but also on the the people of Los Angeles who support us in turn. It is a wonderful place. Donate for that kid who comes in looking to learn how to build a bike and come away not only with a practical new toy, but also with new knowledge. Donate for the guy or gal who comes in, unable to afford a service to their bike and would otherwise be left without transport. Donate to inspire more bike riders in los angeles, to support alternative transport and...hey, because Bicycle Kitchen is a uniquely awesome place that keeps the community rolling safely on two wheels!

Fundraising Meeting Tonight

Our Fundraising Gruppo's having another meeting tonight to begin the full throttle planning for our ending celebration. Mark your calendars! Saturday, June 12th. Everything else TBD. We're cooking up some schemes, that much is for certain.

In the meantime, we're super stoked to tell you that WE MET OUR 8K CHALLENGE GRANT, so generously offered by United Talent Agency's employee giving program!!! Thanks so much to everyone who helped us meet that goal.

Anyone out there want to challenge us with another one?

; )

Ride On!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

Media Coverage that Rules!

Freelance writer Lauren M. Whaley recently moved from the mountains of Jackson Hole to the city of highways in Los Angeles and contacted us for a radio story she was producing for her Master's Degree thesis at University of Southern California.

This is the result: ENJOY!

Thank you, Lauren and Congratulations!!!!

BK

TOLA's Throwing a Race for our Fundraising Campaign!

Takeover LA, blogspot and bike events producers are throwing a race and donating the $5 entry fee to the Bicycle Kitchen!

It's on Saturday, April 17th. Meets and Begins at Orange20. Register at 2pm and then the race starts at exactly 2:30pm.

There are eastside and westside checkpoints. You determine what checkpoint you go to by rolling a six side die. It's really the luck of the racers roll; you could be winning and right by the finish line, but you roll the die and come up with a checkpoint that's far away, and you lose the day. While on the other hand, a racer could be having a poor start or mechanical difficulties, then bewm, they roll for all the checkpoints close to each other and win the day!! It's anybody's game.

Sounds like a good ole time and a good ole cause. C'mon out and take a ride with Lady Luck, courtesy of TOLA.

bewm.

Fundraising Campaign GETS a BIG BOOST!

We have been offered a CHALLENGE GRANT!

The Employee Giving Program of United Talent Agency has offered the Bicycle Kitchen an $8,000 Challenge Grant. For every dollar raised up to 8K they will match it! So far we've raised about $4ooo. HELP US GET TO THAT 8K and get closer to our 55,555.55 goal! Donate today!

Have a great weekend.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cooks

p.s. Looking for something to do tonight? Go HERE

Meet the Cooks! Drew

Name: Drew Bienneman |
Rides: Black IRO mark v single speed named Hayoto.

Cookin' since: March 2008 | Holds down: Tuesday shift.

How'd you hear about the Kitchen: I came to the Kitchen at a time when I was super broke and super bored and had no money for my car and I think I heard about it at Safety Cycle.

Where's your favorite place to ride your bicycle: On the bike path to Santa Monica Pier and Redondo Beach Pier and back.

What do you do when you're not at Kitchen: I am a photo assistant and a colorist.

Fundraising is FUN!

eric potter and molly o having fun

some of the fellas playing parking lot bike polo

The Pantry Parking Lot BBQ was a hoot! We lost power! There was an earthquake!! The tofu sticks burned! But, no worries: car stereo gave us some tunes until the power came back. the earth rolled on. the tofu marinade was delectable! there were two dollar burgers, some delicious home brew by eastside brewers and pure luck's bling. we played bike polo. we raffled off an AVOCADO from bledsoe's flophouse, as well as a truvativ crankset, some workshops, a bike belt, a handmade leather business card holder from oscar sanchez and a kitchen relic--a fool bag handmade by feddy feds back in the day. the boys of TOLA held down the corner by the vintage truck and with all the love and support an easter sunday could muster we raised $700!!!

it was so much fun we're going to do it again so. afterall, we have giant ketchups and mustards to go through. it was a GOOD day!!!

BBQ at the Pantry THIS Sunday!

Sunday, April 4th | 2pm-8pm | $5 suggested donation

@ The Pantry
(the orange shack across from the Kitchen)

Come celebrate the first month of our Fundraising Campaign with:

1. BBQ and Beverages and Sorbet from Scoops!!

2. Raffle! Schwag and Workshops

3. Music and Bikes AND Fun!!!

Block Party is Now BBQ in The Pantry Parking Lot

Details to come Monday. Flier to entice you now! Happy Friday!!!!

Mobile Bici on Wednesdays!

mobile bici and city of lights at IDEPSCA

parts sorter all the way from humboldt!

Every Wednesday from 9am to noon, finds cooks Arlen and Ramon downtown on Main at 18th Street at IDEPSCA's day laborer center. There, in a workroom with guitars along one wall, you can find folks busy at work fixin' bikes, natch! As mentioned before, in partnership with LACBC's City of Lights program, the Bicycle Kitchen is helping to teach bicycle mechanics. Another awesome CoL volunteer, Woody, brought this amazing old metal sorter down from Humboldt and then he and Ramon BIKED it downtown from his place in Hi-Fi! Couldn't resist the photo. It wouldn't really fit at the current Kitchen space, but it's pretty much a perfect thing for bike parts, no?

In other news, we're still fundraising! Reaching the end of the first month and the response so far has been super. We want to give you a heads up that the planned block party with Orange 20 has been cancelled, BUT we are going to throw a BBQ in honor of and right next to the Pantry! It's scheduled for Sunday, April 4th. Keep your eyes peeled here for details. And, hey, come get your bike washed by the kids of Earn-A-Bike this Sunday!!!

Ride ON!