As we get our wheels under us with this pilot, we’re going to aim to send our newsletters mid-month. This month’s update includes:
- June Bookings Now Open!
- Theft and Fundraiser Updates
- New Bike & Rain Jackets!
- Cargo Bike Show & Tell
June Bookings Now Open!
Starting now and moving forward, we’re planning to release bookings with our newsletter (mid month), one month at a time. If you’re already a member (you’ve been through orientation) and are looking to borrow a bike in June, head to our bikes page and find one that fits your needs and availability! If you ever have any issues logging into your account, please reach out to us. As a reminder, bike pick up is generally at 1pm on Saturdays and drop off is between 6-7pm on Thursdays.
If you’ve already rented a bike from the MCBL this season, we’d like to ask that you hold off on booking another rental until later in the summer/fall as we want to ensure everyone has a chance to rent a bike at least once (and we’ll have 25 new members onboarded next week who’ll also be eager to get a bike!).
Theft and Fundraiser Updates
As you may have seen in our last newsletter update, our library suffered a setback on May 6th when a locked garage that we were using as overflow storage was broken into. $2,800 worth of damage was done to the garage door/opener and $6,000 worth of bikes were taken – 2 of our library bikes (the Kona and Lectric Trike) and 2 bikes belonging to the family who owns the garage.
There is insurance on everything, but deductibles are high, so we set up a fundraiser and put out the ask to see if our community might be able to help us get back on our feet. We were BLOWN away by the response that included donations from across the state and across the country! We got some coverage in the Star Tribune and had a great feature in the Streets.MN podcast (recorded before the theft).
We increased our fundraising goal to both recover from the theft (cover the deductibles so we can repair the garage and replace the bikes) AND to ensure our library is well-protected against any future surprises. We are purchasing much lower deductible bike insurance and setting aside more money for bike mechanics to help repair issues that come up from normal wear & tear on our bikes.
Our fundraiser runs through May 31st, so if you haven’t yet donated and would like to, please visit the link below. All donations are tax deductible! Thank you so much for donating, sharing the fundraiser and generally spreading the word about our small but mighty pilot program.
New Bike & Rain Jackets!
This week the MCBL welcomed a new electric cargo bike to our fleet. Meet the Velotric Packer 1! This bike was donated by Velotric and ROAM Bike Shop. It’s already on its first adventure, helping an artist get her art from S Mpls to Art a Whirl this weekend!
This week we also welcomed SEVEN awesome rain jackets, thanks to a generous donation from Cleverhood. We’re all about reducing barriers to biking, so we are excited to help you bike more comfortably in the rain with a jacket you can borrow with your bike rental! We have one in each of the following sizes:
Kids: S, M, L
Adult: S, M, L, Roomy
Cargo Bike Show and Tell
Our friends at Piecycle will be hosting a Cargo Bike Show and Tell on Sunday, June 1st at 10am at Lynnhurst Park Playground. We’ll be there with one of our MCBL bikes. Below is a little more info about the event from Piecycle. All are welcome!
Do you love cargo bikes? Do you yearn for cargo bikes? Are you just a little bitty cargo curious? Well, you’re in luck – we’re doing another CARGO BIKE SHOW & TELL on June 1st!
What’s a cargo bike show & tell? Super simple: Meet up at Lynnhurst Park near the playground and there will be a bunch of cargo bikes and their owners to learn about!
If you have any kind of cargo bike PLEASE bring it along. Share your experience with it – What do you love? what could be better? If you don’t have a cargo bike yet or you’re curious about what’s out there, this is a great casual environment to see a bunch next to each other.
@perennialcycle will be joining us with a few bikes from their fleet as well, along with their bottomless well of knowledge in all things cargo bike!
Details:
– Lynnhurst Park Playground
– June 1st, 10AM
– Free and casual
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