Launch Week

Thanks to everyone who came out to the sign-up and launch party events. We even had the special honor of signing up Paul Wiehl, the mayor, to our program. The poker run was a great time for everyone involved, and we got to thank most of our sponsors in person for their help. The winner, with five kings, received a certificate for a custom-painted frame and decided to give it to a friend of his who recently lost a bike to theft.

At the moment, taxis are still being shuttled back down to the bike co-op garage for some final touches. Half the fleet still needs baskets, a few more ads need to be placed, and some mechanical kinks need to be ironed out. This week I will be getting things going with a "rolling start" by focusing on one bike at a time, and e-mailing our new members in the order that they signed up as each taxi is completed. I'll ask them to come down to the garage, review the manual, get a copy, give their donation if they haven't made one yet, and make their $10 deposit on the key. Then I'll hand over their key and let them ride away on a fully completed bike taxi. This way I can still say the program is underway as promised, but it will be a while before all 25 taxis are out and all members have their key.