Urban Ore and a Tandem Tour of Berkeley

My favorite artist wanted to attend a sketching workshop at a place called Urban Ore in Berkeley. My research of the destination began with looking at Google Earth satellite photos of used toilets.

Really. It did. 

I know these are mostly sinks in the ground-level photo but this does hint at the scale of Urban Ore, which has the tagline "If you're not for Zero Waste, how much waste are you for?" Right there on its website. It's a big place. Parts of it make you think of where things go when people in the first ten minutes of every HGTV show you've ever seen use gentle touches in the 'demo' phase while other parts make you think of a fencing operation. Stacks of appliances. Thousands of doors. Car stereos in a precarious stack. 

And, a few bicycles.

This classic Dahon was in great shape - save for the tires - but I left it where it was so as not to introduce a new tire size into my life. 

What was supposed to happen is my favorite artist was going to sketch around Urban Ore while I'd bike around and do some recon. But instead I spent two full hours wandering about, admiring the items - and sometimes thinking about what I could turn into a new workbench for my shop. 

A little extra room in the car and I'd have parted with the few hundred needed to bring this old doctor's office table home. I had visions of replacing the cushions with a countertop and keeping the spool of paper in place to protect the surface rather than the bottoms of patients. 

The place is also outfitted with some of the most refreshingly honest and unintentionally hilarious labels I've seen on used goods. 

Who needs Las Vegas when you can bet $300 on whether or not you'll have clean clothes for work? 

For $59, I bought exactly three things: the first was a Samsonite suitcase for $10 that was formerly the travel pod of someone's Bike Friday. I know because it had familiar scars on the inside where certain bike parts are known to rub in transit and, even more telling, had three small holes drilled in it for the Bike Friday trailer kit - which as we all know is a great platform for building an original bike bike trailer. There's nothing wrong with the case that I use for my own Bike Friday New World Tourist, but as you know I also have a Bike Friday Tandem and I'm hatching a couple's travel plan once the plague goes away. 

And I bought these.

This is a classic lantern that I bought for $9. It will soon be found on a wall on the inside or outside of my house. 

This is also a small kid's mountain bike with six speeds, rotten tires, a kickstand that snapped off, bad brakes, a shifter you need a pipe wrench to turn and a derailleur that dates back to the Cretaceous Period. And I had to have it, since I've been interested in building a small mountain bike for my favorite artist, who nearly bounced out of her bike seat while pedaling her hybrid Trek at Wilder Ranch State Park.

This was taken on a smoother part of the trail - the very bend up ahead was the start of more difficult terrain, so I floated the idea of getting a little mountain bike to see if she'd like it. 

When the sketching thing was done, my favorite artist saw and approved of my purchases before we followed the tried-and-true practice of taking our Bike Friday tandem out of the car and rode to nearby Emoryville to Los Moles, where we locked up and fueled up on some great Mexican food. 

Afterwards, we did about nine miles hitting a few shops and a flea market. I also bought some Bicycle Coffee beans. 

I even noticed a place called BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation and stopped by to learn about it. They make specialized bikes and other equipment for people with disabilities. It's very cool and, as of about thirty seconds ago, are one of #MyNonprofits. You can donate to BORP Adaptive Cycling here.

By the time we packed up and drove home, it was about dinnertime, but I still managed to get in the shop and start working on the small mountain bike. 

I hit a snag early on when I discovered I didn't have the right size seatpost in my parts inventory. I needed a 34.5 and most of what I own is 27.2. Rummaging brought out every size but 34.5. It's like the Alanis Morrisette song: '10,000 spoons and all you need is...a slightly larger spoon' or something along those lines. 

I will keep you posted on this and other builds. In the meantime, remember the following:

• VivaCalleSJ is on September 19th. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition - one of #MyNonprofits - is sponsoring their very first Silicon Valley Bikes ride that is 10, 20, or 40 miles. Learn more about it and sign up here. 
• Cycle of Hope, Habitat for Humanity East Bay Silicon Valley's ride, is taking place in late October. There's an option to ride in-person or virtual - and the in-person event is on the 24th. Learn more and register here.
• Cellista's new album, Pariah, drops on Oct. 1. You can buy it on Bandcamp at Cellista.Bandcamp.com
• For my California readers: please vote no on the recall by September 14th. Just like the mean-spirited and stupid plan to repeal the gas tax it is an awful idea with awful consequences. CalBike had a good post about the recall the other day and I'm too angry and annoyed I'm spending time, money (donate to the Stop the Recall campaign here), and space about the recall. I'm tired of being made to vote for things we should already have in place. Just vote no - and bike to deliver your ballot if you can ride a bike safely. 

Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.

Cycle of Hope 2020: Biking for Affordable Housing with Habitat for Humanity EBSV

 

There's still time to register for the Cycle of Hope or you can donate to my page! Whoever raises the most in the 24 hour period of Saturday, October 17th will win a six-pack of beer from Lagunitas Brewing Company I don't drink but I'm excited Habitat for Humanity is closing in on their fundraising goal anyway :) 

Today I went on the Habitat for Humanity East Bay Silicon Valley Cycle of Hope ride. You can do it too, but you don't have to wait for 2021 - you can do it anytime between now and October 25th. 

That's because this event - just like most others these coronavirus days - is virtual. To Habitat for Humanity's credit, they leaned into the advantages of a virtual event.

You can do it anytime, you can choose your own route if you want, and the cause - the building of affordable housing - did not lose its importance during shelter in place.

Unlike last year, when I found myself in a lousy mood and decided to do the ride anyway (on my then-just built Back to the Future theme bike), this year I really wanted to do it and signed up. The problem I had was I didn't commit to the date and decided, literally this past Friday, that Indigenous People's Day would be the day that I'd ride. 

Since I picked a 62 mile ride, I chose a route that would fill that distance. Going to Lick Observatory was an obvious choice but unsure the main building - and the room where the coveted vending machine and water fountain are kept - would be accessible since it had been closed due to the fires. 

So I picked Mt. Madonna County Park as my destination. It is about 30 miles to get there - about the same as getting to Lick Observatory - but would involve about half of the climbing. That meant I could probably pack a 2 liter Camelbak and have enough water to do the whole distance.

Last night I gathered my cycling kit, several protein bars that were not expired - which is a big change for me - and a few other items. Then I sat down and checked my email, and found one from Cycle of Hope reminding me to download an app called RaceJoy, which would be used to track the ride. With an old iPhone busting at the seems with photos, I downloaded the app reluctantly, but after following several prompts I had everything all set in a few minutes.

With the Back to the Future bike all shiny and tuned (since the 2019 Cycle of Hope ride I added a larger rear cassette for easier climbing, a Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost for comfort, and a Flux Capacitor just Because) I headed off to my personal start line.

I switched on Strava, and then I opened up the RaceJoy app, selected my ride, and much to my surprise (and any nearby household that may have had the windows open) a recorded message played that welcomed me to the ride. Assured I had started the app properly, I set off - first heading to the Coyote Creek Trail.

Over the past several weeks, I've used my old recumbent and my Box Bike Collective/Box Bike by DIYBIKING.COM cargo bike for riding, so the Back to the Future bike felt like a rocket as I headed into the 57 degree morning (thanks for the weather, Kari Hall of NBC Bay Area).

A few miles in, while I was still on roads, I heard voices coming from somewhere and I thought someone was blasting NPR from one of the cars ahead of me...but it was actually the RaceJoy app. Every five miles, a woman's voice would tell me about my pace and average speed, followed by words from a sponsor of the event (and one was even a story from someone who has gotten a home because of Habitat's work - I slowed down so I could better hear that one). If you have a handlebar phone mount I recommend you use it since I felt like I had tiny people talking to me occassionally from my waistpack.

Vineyards always make me think of a friend of mine in Napa - and there are quite a few to see on Watsonville Road. The bike was working perfectly and I was feeling good about my time.

I pedaled up Hecker Pass Highway - a road that has so much potential. As you can see it has recently been paved, so the asphalt is very smooth. It also has a rumble strip in the middle of the road, which creates a disincentive for people to pull into the middle to pass a cyclist. With only a luxurious inch-and-a-half shoulder most of the way up, it was a white-knuckle stretch when cars would pass closely. But the larger cassette on the back paid off even though I didn't even go into the tiny front chainring for this part (I wanted to pass through this part as fast as possible).

When I did reach the top, I did a lean against the Hecker Pass sign, and read the stone plaque just behind. Hecker Pass was named after Henry Hecker, who was behind this road and was apparently not a cyclist back in his day or he would have designed it differently.

A few hundred yards beyond is the long shuttered Mt. Madonna Inn. I rode up there to catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean before heading into Mt. Madonna Park, where I did use the tiny chainring to climb the first hill. Without any rangers around, I had little idea of what to do or where to go when I arrived, but I thoroughly enjoyed riding in the tall, Endor-like trees.

The RaceJoy app again broke the silence by congratulating me for hitting the halfway mark. It even suggested I drink some water, so I did as I listened to the message from the lead sponsor, Patelco Credit Union. I was even within sight of the bench overlooking the valley you can see in the first photo when I hit 31 miles.

I tore open a couple of protein bars and ate in silence, trying to think about what to do next. I didn't feel like riding down Hecker Pass Highway, but I saw on a map Mt. Madonna Road, which looked like it led to Watsonville Road. When I arrived at the intersection for Mt. Madonna Road, I saw what I first thought was a crude, gravel driveway. But no: it was Mt. Madonna Road.

Then I remembered something a friend told me the day before. She was recommending Mt. Madonna as a destination and said she had been there herself and "the last mile and a half you're gonna want gravel tires."

I headed down the road that she must have been referring to not with gravel tires, but with the 120 psi Continental road tires the Back to the Future bike has had for over a year. 

I had just enough confidence in my handiwork to be convinced the bike would stay together. Me personally, less so. Fillings were relocated from my teeth and eyeballs rattled in their sockets as I descended. I kept thinking of the trip I did on the Bike Friday years ago in the hills outside of Paraty, Brazil, where I biked on a similar mountain road on similar tires and the only flat I got on that trip was in the hotel room. 

Thankfully, the rough gravel eventually turned into asphalt, so I was able to open up the throttle a little - but not before being reminded of my comparatively less-than-stellar time from the RaceJoy app.

After passing several ranches I arrived at Watsonville Road, and was presented with a chance to head back on Uvas Road. I decided to do it and was once again presented with newly painted asphalt. But at that hour and on that road, there were few cars as I passed Uvas Reservoir. I stopped to prop my bike up on a conveniently-located stick and wondered if another rider had used the same stick for a similar photo earlier - or would later. 

After several more miles, I knew I was closing in on the finish - just in time for lunch! - so I took a cool down lap in a residential neighborhood for about a mile as the congratulations message played over the RaceJoy app. I had completed the Cycle of Hope 2020 ride. There were no RouteArrows, no bumping into the publisher of Cycle California Magazine or the owner of the women's cycling apparel company Tonik Cycling at the end of this one, but it was still a great ride worth taking, and an adventure I wouldn't have otherwise. 

At my house, I leaned the Back to the Future bike against the door and updated my miles on analog. I also taped the wrappers of all of the things I ate on the ride as a general reminder to others not to litter. I went in the house and ate lunch. 

Right now I'm sitting in my living room. I showered, changed, and have a Gemellos Murals coffee mug nearby that has her drawing of the San Jose skyline on it. It's quiet and it's peaceful, and everyone should have one of these things called homes. 

Please make a donation to one of #MyNonprofits, Habitat for Humanity East Bay Silicon Valley, and/or register for the Cycle of Hope ride. Thanks for reading and thanks for making a difference where and how you can.

#MyNonprofits: City Lights Theater Company in San Jose

 

If you're healthy, employed, and traveled less than you wanted this summer, please make a donation to a nonprofit organization(s) that matters to you and share the donation link on social media with the hashtag #MyNonprofits - encouraging others to do the same. I hope you take part - thank you. 

This morning, I checked PurpleAir.com - which is a thing that you do in California during fire season - and was happy to see that downtown San Jose had an AQI that seemed unlikely to kill me. I wore a decent quality n-95 anyway and took the Back to the Future bike for a spin. 

One of #MyNonprofits is San Jose Spotlight, and last week the reported two sisters are starting a new coffee shop called Nirvana Soul, where Cafe Frascati used to be. According to the article it will open later this month so keep a sharp eye and pack a handlebar cup holder. 

On the way back, the sight of the sign at City Lights Theater Company - a nonprofit that the artist Cellista introduced me to - made me stop for another photo. Possibly an homage to the sign-off that Seth Meyers does at the end of A Closer Look when asking viewers to support City Harvest. It made me smile - and I made a small donation to City Lights Theater when I got home under a grey sky.

A lot of theaters are obviously closed temporarily because of COVID-19 but City Lights has a lot of shows online, a podcast, and is producing an online show on Friday evenings called The Next Stage. The words on their homepage include the stage is dark but the light's aren't out. Let's keep them on forever - and when COVID is over we'll jam a table at Nirvana Soul and stand in a crowded line at the box office. 

Donate to City Lights Theater Company here

That's all for the moment - hope you have a chance this week to find nonprofits that matter to you and tell the world about them. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Give Blood on Saturday (and donate to Be the Change Wellness Today)

If you're healthy, employed, and traveled less than you wanted this summer, please make a donation to a nonprofit organization(s) that matters to you and share the donation link on social media with the hashtag #MyNonprofits - encouraging others to do the same. I hope you take part - thank you. 

Like a lot of you I have good days and bad days in terms of Coping With The Pandemic - and sometimes the former can flip unexpectedly to the latter with almost no warning. 

One time that happened was in late May - one of #MyNonprofits, Good Karma Bikes, was hosting a blood drive. I'm afraid of needles but I give blood anyway, so I was excited to do it. When I got there - masked and ready to go! - I marveled at how well that had everything planned out so donors could be safe distance from each other and the staff.

I filled out a questionnaire on a tablet, but when I got inside the Bloodmobile the nurse gave me some bad news about my answers: On the travel questions I wrote I had traveled to Hyderabad, India late last year, which is considered a malaria risk area - which meant I would be ineligible to give blood again until December. 

As professional as the nurse was, it still felt like a bad breakup. I shuffled out of the Bloodmobile without a cookie and no bandage on my arm. The reasoning was the worst part: all I've wanted to do for months is travel - the #MyNonprofits initiative was born from a trip in Italy I never got to take - and I couldn't even go across town to give blood because of travel I had done before the pandemic. 

It left me demoralized for days.  

That brings me to now: Garvin Thomas of NBC Bay Area is coordinating the 4th Annual NBC Bay Area Proud blood drive this Saturday, September 12th at 1375 Blossom Hill Road (Princeton Plaza) from 9am to 2pm. As I mentioned, the social distancing and other safety measures the staff at Stanford Blood Center engages is great but they just can't accommodate as many people as they did in pre-coronavirus times, so every appointment counts. If you're eligible to give blood visit the NBC Bay Area page of the Stanford Blood Center site and make an appointment. You can also go to the Stanford Blood Center site and enter the sponsor code of 2440 (and when you give blood use the hashtag #GiveBloodSBC

In the meantime, please consider taking part in #MyNonprofits by donating to the nonprofits that matter to you - and on the off chance we share one I urge you to please make a donation to Be the Change Yoga and Wellness - a nonprofit yoga studio. The pandemic hit them hard - they quickly moved to hold classes through Zoom but they still had to close their physical studio this summer. 

And the organization is going to pause with even the Zoom classes later on this month - which I can tell already isn't going to be good for my own well being. So please, help them out if you can.

Donate to Be the Change Yoga & Wellness here 

That's all I've got for now - hope you stay indoors today (it's over 100 degrees in San Jose right now) and make donations to some of your nonprofits and tell the world about them with #MyNonprofits. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Seedlings, Cycling, Blood, and Heels: A #MyNonprofits Update

Before you read this post: renew or start a membership for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Do it now. I'll wait. 

Join #MyNonprofits: donate to a different nonprofit a day, every day for seven days or more, share why you love them, and nominate someone to do the same. 

Now that you've become a member of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, I want to tell you about a fun thing I did on May 9 with the hopes you agree to do it on May 23.   

What I did was volunteer to bring seedlings from one of #MyNonprofits, Valley Verde in San Jose to families in need. As I noted in my last post: Valley Verde was supposed to hold their seedling fair but COVID-19 put a stop to that. What they decided they wanted to give the seedlings away, and they enlisted the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition to handle the logistics and gathering volunteers to deliver the seedlings. It was a successful event that was covered by NBC Bay Area and The San Jose Mercury News. 

Signing up to do it made me happy. Putting it on my calendar made me happy. Heading there with my City Bike towing the seven year-old bike trailer made with an IKEA tub and Bike Friday trailer frame made me happy. 

I showed up, and even though we were set at an acceptable physical distance and all wore masks, I was still able to recognize some friends. That made me happy, too. 

Like the other riders, I showed at my pre-determined time slot and chose my rides - two deliveries about eight miles away. I rode out, I delivered the seedlings, I rode back.

And Valley Verde and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition are doing it again on Saturday, May 23. If you've lost your job recently or struggling financially due to COVID-19 visit www.valleyverde.com by May 19th and follow the instructions to see if you qualify.

If you were among the scores of people who signed up to help deliver the seedlings by bike and were turned away because there were too many volunteers sign up to deliver seeds here. And if you get to Valley Verde before your appointment time, pop into iJava to get something to drink. 

View from iJava Cafe on Auzerais

I have some other Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition news: I am going to be on a panel on Wednesday at noon called How to Haul Anything By Bike. It's the last Bike Month webinar co-produced by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and Commute.org - Register for the Zoom webinar here.  

I have a couple of other things to update you about with a couple of #MyNonprofits.

Veggielution

Veggielution just had their Eastside Connect event online. They had Sal Pizarro of The San Jose Mercury News as the emcee, author Cecilia Tsu as the keynote, and a variety of special guests. Watch it here and make a donation to Veggielution.

Good Karma Bikes

Good Karma Bikes is on 460 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose and is open for repairs and sales as long as you wear a mask and engage in physical distancing. Prior to the pandemic they'd hold mobile blood drives on site with a Bloodmobile from Stanford Blood Center - and they correctly understand the need for blood donors hasn't gone away during Shelter in Place. The next Good Karma Bikes blood drive is on May 28th. Make an appointment to give blood here.  

YWCA Silicon Valley (Walk a Mile in her Shoes) 

YWCA Silicon Valley is going forward with Walk a Mile again this year - but instead of men walking in heels in a huge group in Santana Row to raise money to help fight domestic violence, they're doing a virtual walk to raise money to help fight domestic violence. I'm doing it for the third year in a row (I saved my size 12 wedges I used last year, as you can see) and this time I'm recruiting mates at my office to do it with me. I hope you register for Walk a Mile in Her Shoes and encourage others to do that too. 

That's all I've got for now: remember to keep washing your hands and taking care of yourself. I know all of us are experiencing some unruly cocktail of grief/shock/loss, but you still have your job and your health please start thinking of the nonprofits that matter to you and show them some support. As I write this I am supposed to be flying to Italy so I could eat and bike my way around Umbria. But I'm slowly letting go of where I'm supposed to be and thinking about where I am - and what I can do. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Morgan Hill, California. May 17, 2020

#MyNonprofits Update: Deliver Seedlings by Bike on May 9 in San Jose

I have a calendar by my desk as I work from home. Because of COVID-19, there isn't anything on it - just two yellow sticky notes. One has the word TODAY written on it that I move from one day to the next. For quite a while, it has felt like there is no tomorrow - just another version of today. 

Speaking of today: San Jose Spotlight's coronavirus blog just reported the County of Santa Clara is extending their Shelter in Place order is going through May 31. So the other yellow sticky on my calendar - the one that reads 'lockdown ends' just moved up to the end of next month. Other than that, my calendar has seen no action.

But if you live near downtown San Jose, have either a bike with big panniers, a bike trailer or a cargo bike, you're going to mark your calendar with a blunt-point Sharpie: On Saturday, May 9th, Valley Verde needs your help to deliver seedlings by bike to area families.

Let me back up a second.

Valley Verde is, as of last night, one of #MyNonprofits. For those of you who don't know: #MyNonprofits is a campaign when you make a financial donation* to a different nonprofit every day for seven days or more, encourage others to donate, and nominate one friend or more each day to take the #MyNonprofits challenge. I started this because I was supposed to fly to Italy for vacation in May, and of course that was cancelled, so I reasoned that if I can't enrich my life abroad, I was going to take the money that would be used on the trip and help nonprofits that enrich other people's lives - including mine. 

I first visited Valley Verde last year - my wife and I rode our tandem on the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition's garden ride, and Valley Verde was one of the stops. Neither of us had heard of it before but we ended up taking an eggplant in the seatpost bag which survived the rest of the journey and later gave us an eggplant.

Like Veggielution (another one of #MyNonprofits) Valley Verde is a farm in San Jose that specializes in giving education and other programs to low-income families - as well as edible gardens. They teach how to grow their own food - like, real food**sold seedlings at their annual seedling fair, but like my vacation in Italy, that was cancelled which is a big loss for them and the families who use the seedlings. 

What Valley Verde is doing instead is giving the seedlings away to low income families. Let's skip ahead of their incredibly nice gesture and get to the rub: limited public transportation, no options for child care and other factors means a lot of people want seedlings but can't physically go get them. 

So the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is trying to get volunteers to help bring seedlings to families on Saturday, May 9. It is not an organized ride - it is a socially distanced one. This means you can't just show up with a cargo bike or a bike trailer or big panniers and take plants. What you need to do is click here to make an appointment to give away seedlings by bike and choose how many miles you wish to ride to deliver zucchini, peppers or other plants. 

The plants themselves are in containers - the size is about 6' x 10" by 10" -  so if you have a trailer or a cargo bike, you can carry a lot more plants and help a lot more people in one go. You drop the plants off at the addresses they give you - so it is 100% social distanced all the way.


So what I ask you today, the readers, is to make a donation to Valley Verde. I personally know the feeling that comes when a big fundraising event doesn't take place for a nonprofit and it is not a good feeling. So make a donation to Valley Verde, then share the Valley Verde donation page online. 

Next - if you have a bike that can carry plants that you can ride safely, live close enough to ride to Valley Verde, are free on May 9, then sign up to deliver seedlings. If you want to read something better written - and with more detail and fewer spelling errors - here's the Valley Verde post by Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition executive director Shiloh Ballard. 

That's all for now. Please check out the list of the nonprofits I have on #MyNonprofit list and take the #MyNonprofits challenge: give a little money to one nonprofit a day, ever day for seven days or more, and each time nominate a friend to do the same. COVID-19 is taking away a lot from us now but let's make sure it doesn't take even more from the less fortunate among ourselves later. Thanks for reading, thanks for riding (alone), and thanks for taking the #MyNonprofits challenge. 


*if it is the American Red Cross - blood if you prefer. Make an appointment to give blood online here.  

**I swear, every time I am in the grocery store I notice what someone is carrying in their baskets or trolleys and think "If the coronavirus doesn't kill you, that junk you plan to eat will." Don't get me started on the people who pull down their masks when they get outside to smoke a cigarette.

#MyNonprofits and Other Ways to Live Through a Pandemic

I was supposed to get together with a friend for coffee. I was supposed to take a train and use a folding bike to get to work. I was supposed to watch the San Jose artist Cellista tweet joyously about her March 27th concert in LA. 

I was supposed to go to yoga class. I was supposed to get a tart at Pastelaria with a colleague. I was supposed to fly to Italy in May with my Bike Friday in checked luggage. 

The coronavirus has taken a lot from us - much more than I just listed here.

I'm still better off than most. Way better. I can do my job from home. I'm not furloughed. I don't have a greedy landlord to contend with or rent increases to worry about. I also don't have a stack of paper coffee filters on the back of my toilet - not yet, anyway.  

What I do have is a bike - well, a couple, actually - and ride it regularly and alone - like I did in the time before. Only now cars that I once had to beg for three feet of space are suddenly giving me six - and frames from the opening sequence of 'I am Legend' sneak into my ride from time to time. This was Friday afternoon in San Jose. 

On the same ride I headed toward Be the Change Yoga and Wellness. The doors were shut, the place was dark. But there was a sign on the door letting patrons know that they were offering classes on Zoom. I've taken some. They were some of the first people I met when I moved to San Jose five years ago and yoga helped me through a very difficult adjustment period to California. It's helping me again, right now. 

You already know I'm going to tell you how much biking is helping - and it is. It's also a bit of a spirit-lifter that bike shops are deemed 'essential' business. Remember Vera - the great mechanic at the mobile bike shop Velofix? She's still at work, and you can book her. 

Like anyone else who is still working out of the house - be kind, be patient and tip generously.

Latest downtown San Jose mural by Bay Area artist Lila Gemellos 

Let me offer something more concrete than a few abstracts - here today I am giving you an activity. Something to keep you occupied, feeling empowered and encouraged. It's called #MyNonprofits.

Here's how it works: every day, for seven days or more, donate to a different nonprofit that has touched your life in some way, and share the donation link on social media and encourage your friends to not only donate, but join in on #MyNonprofits too.

Donate any amount - it's up to you. 

That's it. That's the post. That's what I want you to do. Eight years or so of entertaining you for free on DIYBIKING.COM and I want you to pass the time by donating to and talking about nonprofits every day for seven days. 

It is easy. Each day under shelter in place, after all, feels like it goes by in a blur but every week feels a month. Now is the time to introduce good habits. So take a little time to think and start donating to seven nonprofits in seven days. 

Here are mine. 

Be the Change Yoga and Wellness

2016 was easily the worst year of my life and finding time for a class at Be the Change Yoga & Wellness, no matter how chaotic, lonely, or unhappy I felt, was always time well spent.  As I said, they are offering classes online with Zoom so in chaotic, lonely and unhappy times it's a good way to feel connected and feel healthy.  

Donate to Be the Change Yoga & Wellness here 

Good Karma Bikes

Within weeks of arriving in San Jose in 2015, I was doing part-time freelancing  for faraway clients so I began some part-time volunteering for Good Karma Bikes as a mechanic and a little social media managing. They take bikes in as donations, fix them, and gift some bikes and free repairs to the homeless and have other programs - including Women's Night (run by Vera!).They had to scale back their operations a lot in the wake of COVID-19 and could use some help. 

Donate to Good Karma Bikes here

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley helps an incredible number of people in the Bay Area each year - food created 30 million meals just last year. Traditional food drives, like the ones done by Cranksgiving San Jose, are cancelled right now but you can still do a virtual food drive. However, due to the blood-curdling number of layoffs the work Second Harvest of Silicon Valley does has grown more important than ever. 

Donate to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley here

YWCA Silicon Valley

Quick backstory: a long time ago I helped a friend move out of the house of a domestic abuser. Just a few years ago I did a freelance assignment for a talented friend who hired me to make a series of charts about the impact of domestic violence in one U.S. state. It was incredibly grim work but it made me realize how horrifying and massive this problem is, so I started doing Walk a Mile with YWCA Silicon Valley I kept the size twelve wedges I wore last year thinking I'd use them again this year (and try to get the guys i my own workplace to participate too) but at this point who knows if and when registration for Walk a Mile will open. Eliminating racism and helping women leave domestic violence can't wait. 

Donate to YWCA Silicon Valley here 

San Jose Spotlight

San Jose Spotlight is just over a year old and they are the reason I knew where to take two unopened boxes of five N-95 masks so nurses could have them instead of my garage. That's one small reason they're important.

My career has been shaped by journalism - my first job was reporting for an industry newsletter and my third career was about being a book publishing expert at Simba Information where I was interviewed by journalists a couple hundred times and learned the importance of journalists who are experts in their beats. Even before COVID-19 journalists and journalism has been subject to the wrath of vulture capitalism and just plain neglect. Reporters who are still in the game and genuinely trying to do what's best for their communities deserve praise and the publications they work for deserve money. If you live in the Bay Area, you'll want to follow San Jose Spotlight on Twitter and get to know their reporters. 

Donate to San Jose Spotlight here

Lick Observatory

A year ago next week, I decided, on a whim and a 21 year old Bike Friday, to ride up to Lick Observatory. It was a 62 mile trip that impaired my ability to walk, stand, or sit comfortably for days but it was ultimately spiritual and uplifting. I wrote about that trip here. Due to COVID-19, Lick Observatory only has the robotic telescopes in operation and the technical labs on UC Santa Cruz campus are closed - which is a shame, because with fewer cars on the road air is clearer (imagine that). You can help the staff and help the science today.

Donate to Lick Observatory Here 

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition

In April of 2015, when I was still flying back and forth between CA and CT, I went on a group ride the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition organized through Willow Glen. I felt like the new kid on their first day of school introducing myself, but I had a lot of fun on the ride, and quickly learned the SVBC does a lot more than that. Advocacy, education and outreach - not to mention the fact that if there is an intersection in the Bay Area that is suddenly safer for bicycles than it was before, chances are excellent the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition had something to do with it. 

They just postponed Bike to Work Day to September 24th but they are keeping up with ways to have us pedal together even as we have to ride apart - the hashtag campaign they rolled our recently is #JoyRideSV where you post photos of different solo rides you've done under the SIP order.

Donate to the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition here


Veggielution

Veggielution is a working farm on the east side of San Jose - tucked under the 101 and 280/680 interchange. Growing vegetables in the shade of a maze of overpasses is a great use of the land. The last time I was there I bought tomatoes and peppers, which I made into a homemade sauce I ate over pasta. But this place is more than a location to buy good food - they have a lot of education and community programs, including serving food on site (the tacos are amazing) and provide a place to meet and make friends.

Donate to Veggielution here 


Highways Performing Arts Center 

Highway Performance Space is a performing arts center in Los Angeles. I know nothing whatsover about them other than that is where Cellista was supposed to perform Transfigurations on March 27th. Even though my track record of being in the same area code as Cellista when she does do a show has been terrible, I am looking forward to this concert being rescheduled. Hope you, as you come up with your #MyNonprofits list, remember performing arts centers during this time of social distancing - even though the arts are essential. 

Donate to Highways here 

Bike New York

While living in Connecticut, I knew what day the first Sunday in May was: the Five Boro Bike Tour: a ride of over 30,000 people in car-free New York City streets organized by the nonprofit Bike New York, which teaches people how to ride and does advocacy and education work. The last FBBT I did was in 2014 - and at the time I had no idea I would be moving from Connecticut to California during the 2015 event. The 2020 Five Boro Bike Tour is cancelled and event cancellations for nonprofits are hard - let's help them out. 

Donate to Bike New York here 

Me on my recumbent at the 2007 Five Boro Bike Tour (photo by Brightroom)

Community Cycles of California

Community Cycles of California is a young bike-based nonprofit in San Jose (if you look really closely you can see me at the ribbon-cutting of their headquarters and shop last year). They take donated bikes and refurbish, administer repair centers in affordable housing developments and are getting a vocational training program started. They just opened a new retail location on Santa Clara Street - and on the day of the Measure E rally on Leap Day I rode my cargo bike to downtown to attend the rally and 'panic bought' a folding bike at Community Cycles on my way back. 

Their shop closed two weeks later due to the COVID-19 SIP order - but just today Community Cycles announced a few changes in operations so they can still help people safely during the pandemic. 

Donate to Community Cycles of California here

Silicon Valley Community Foundation / Silicon Valley Strong Fund

The Silicon Valley Strong Fund was created a few days into the Shelter in Place order when it was clear a lot of people in the Bay Area would need financial help. The fund launched with $11 million and several individuals and organizations made donations. Even still, the fund had over 4,400 applicants in three days and the waiting list for aid just keeps growing. On Saturday, NBC Bay Area ran a telethon for aid and received over $250,000 in donations. The number of government, business and nonprofit entities that are giving time, money and infrastructure are numerous, and if you want to help give money, time or both you can visit www.SiliconValleyStrong.org. Visit it a lot, and I am convinced if we ask ourselves 'what can I do to help?' enough times, our minds will give the answer.  

Donate to the Silicon Valley Strong Fund here

That's what I've got - and now that I look at this list, I see more than seven and I see reason to add more. For instance, the Stanford Blood Center needs donations and if I, a needle-fearing child trapped in an adult's body, can visit the Stanford Blood Center and make an appointment to give blood, you can too.  

I hope you give to these and take the #MyNonprofits hashtag and support any nonprofits who have touched your life in some way. I mentioned earlier how much the coronavirus has taken from us but please remember: it isn't done taking. The antidote to taking is to give. And to paraphrase a line from Ed Harris in Apollo 13: as we all grieve the things we are supposed to do but can't: It's not about what we are supposed to do, it's about what we can do.

Thanks for reading about #MyNonprofits and for telling the world about yours.