Had a nice evening last Monday hanging out with the BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) folks at the Velocult bike shop in Portland. Velocult is a neat little place. I'm pretty sure everyone has had this idea of combining a coffee shop with another business, or a bar and another business. In college, I always thought it would be a great idea to combine a bar/coffee shop with a laundromat. It would kill I'm sure. Of course, the coffee shop in a book store is well worn territory. Well, bike shops are not immune to this idea. At Velocult, vintage bikes from the owner's collection line the walls. There is a Murphy bed like stage that folds down for live music. There's a bar with a good selection of local brews. The bike mechanic does double duty as bar tender. The centerpiece is a large oak table in the middle of the store for hanging out.
We were there to brainstorm ideas about how to increase interest in bicycle commuting outside of the BTA's premier month long bike commute challenge in September. There was a great group of folks representing all ages and types of bike commuter, except perhaps a hipster representative. It may simply be that hipsters have quietly been reabsorbed into society. But...everyone else was there. For instance, I had a great conversation with an older lady who, at first glance seemed like the typical commuting geek you might see overdressed in excessive rain gear riding a commuting specific bike. We ended up having a great conversation about tire width, the evolution of steal bike frames, and more. I also shared my idea for clay-mation videos depicting common bike commuting scenarios. Anybody know a creative type who could help me put those together?
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