Flaming Lips bicycle valet – Saturday March 13

Hey, did you hear Wayne Coyne is riding a bike to the Denton show and parking it at the free valet?  He’s a smart man, and we trust his opinion.

We’ll be the last blog on earth to tell you that thousands of adoring fans will ascend into Denton for the free Flaming Lips concert this Saturday, March 13, at ~6PM.  But we’ll be the first blog to tell you that Querencia is providing bicycle valet service, free of charge (and donations welcome).

From Carroll Blvd, go in the left side of the main gate and follow the curve to the stables just to the right, and you’ll see our valet station ready to park your bike in the finest equestrian accommodations.

Here’s a handy photo guide of the entrance gate:

Community Ride Saturday, March 6th

Meetup @ Emily Fowler Library, 502 Oakland in Denton

Gather @ 1:30pm; Ride departs @ 2pm

Families Welcome! Helmets Encouraged!

Shop Closed today, 2/13, due to muddy/slushy conditions

Jan 30 Fundraiser for permanent shop

Our backyard shop days are numbered, y’all!

We’ve found a new home next to RGRS, and we’re raising funds so we can build storage sheds and a fence.  With a permanent shop space, we can expand our hours, publicize the address, be really really close to the upcoming commuter train station, and do that thing we do best: get donated bikes repaired and into the hands of the community.

You know those pledge drives you hear and read about, like for NPR?  That’s what this benefit is for us.  Please show your support for our all-volunteer 501c3 nonprofit charity, and come celebrate with us!

And because we like to spread the love around, we’re having our Jan 30 benefit show at Dan’s Silverleaf, 103 Industrial.

• Doors at 8PM.
• $5 for cyclists
• $7 for drivers
• free bike valet, courtesy of Little Guys Movers

Come early to dance to reggae vinyl and stay late to dance to soul vinyl!

Mariachi Quetzal

The Angelus

Old Snack

Shop Hours Change to 3-5PM

Since it’s dark outside at 5:30 now, we moved our Saturday Hickory St shop hours to 3-5PM so we can use available daylight.

We still have parts organization work to do, so come on out and volunteer if you’d like to sort some of our recent donations.  And as always, we’re happy to assist with repairs!

 

Bikes-To-Kids Award Ceremony

1st place – Evelin Martinez – 5th grade
2nd place – Elizabeth Landeros-5th grade
3rd place – Busra Can- 4th grade

On October 29, 2009, we held an awards ceremony at Tomas Rivera Elementary for the three winners of the Bikes-To-Kids contest.  The winning art entries are really, really, really good, and I’m not just saying that because the art is bike themed.  These kids are truly talented, and the judges were blown away by the creativity and detail in the winning works.  The students worked on these art projects for the month of October, and simultaneously, Querencia volunteers repaired about seven bicycles from which the winners chose.  Denton Police donated new helmets, Sonic donated coupons, and the Hydrant Cafe donated coupons.

Here are the winning entries which will be on display at Emily Fowler Library through November:

1st place - Evelin Martinez

2nd place - Elizabeth Landeros

3rd place - Busra Can

You can see all of the photos at the qcbs.org Flickr account, and be sure to zoom in and appreciate the detail of these works.  The 2nd place entry even has the “Brooks” logo on the leather saddle!  The other entries in the top 10 were also super good and worth looking at, so feel free to look at all the entries.

Here are more photos from Bikes To Kids:

 

Querencia volunteers repairing kids' bikes

 

Howard Draper addressing the Art Club students

Lt Tom Woods awarding helmets courtesy of Denton PD

Kati Trice awards the first place medal to Evelin Martinez

Nic Bagherpour adjusts saddle height

happy sisters with a nice mongoose BMX bike

victory laps!

Bikes-To-Kids Preview

We are so giddy about Bikes-To-Kids that we snuck out these spy pics showing some of the art in progress.  The Art teacher says these kids are VERY excited.

is that a flying saucer?!

idyllic country ride

Note the Brooks B67 saddle detail!

biking in Hollywood

Ah, oui.

there is no destination too far, right?

Bikes To Kids – Oct 29

We’re excited to announce our first Bikes-To-Kids project with DISD! We’re restoring donated bicycles to give to the three winners of an Art & Essay contest. The after school art club from Tomas Rivera is participating, and bikes will be awarded to the winners at 2:30PM on Thursday, October 29. The ceremony will take place outside Tomas Rivera Elementary near the school marquee, and public attendance is encouraged. Show these kids how important it is to learn about cycling at an early age!  Our judges include a cycling police officer, a cycling librarian, and a cycling professional musician, all from Denton.  The winning entries will be displayed at Emily Fowler Library throughout November.

Recycling Cycling

Querencia recently brought 300 lbs of discarded bike metal to a Denton metal recycling business, Fulton’s.  Pictured is the receipt and $14 in cash.  Unfortunately, we got the steel price of $.04 per pound instead of the aluminum price of $.40 per pound.  Next time, we’ll have to more thoroughly strip the aluminum frames off all fasteners and headsets, but hey, this is a nice start!

It’s a good feeling to clear out a pile of junk metal and know that it’s going back into the supply stream.  Who knows, maybe some of it will be reincarnated as your next new bike.

Sept 26 Shop Day Cancelled, Bike Race Downtown

We won’t be open on Hickory St this weekend, but we will be providing free bicycle valet at the Sam Bass Bicycle Challenge race this weekend.