Folks from far and wide roll up!

December is upon us again! That makes a full year of us living the Bike Life at High Street. My calculations show that we’ve serviced 12,197 bicycles and sold just over twice that many helmets since opening in December ’08. Some people question my figures and say they’re sometimes optimistic but surely a far more important question is what the second 12,197 helmets are being used for. I do not know!

December is set to be an extremely exciting month so let me without delay share the latest cycling news and events straight from Human Powered HQ…

Happy and safe cycling to everyone.

Cheers,
Bill and the crew

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Human Powered Cycles turns one year old!
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Come to our party this friday night… 4th December

From 6pm – 11pm at headquarters (562 High Street Thornbury). Free entry.
Live music through the evening, tasty drinks from our friends at the Good Brew Company, door prizes, secure bike valet parking, bike trick and bling contests with awesome prizes including: Velocity Deep V track wheelset in “hot” colourz, Vittoria Rubino Pro folding tyrez, Ortlieb messenger bag and moooore!

And let me stress these fit in the non-competitive type of competitions. There’ll be a prize for the “koolest outfit on a bike” and more so please don’t feel put off if you don’t like riding fast or if you’ve ridden the same trusty bike every day since you were 8 years old!

And here’s a few of the spectacular acts we’ve got lined up… Pete Coles, Zinnia Blue, The Taylor Project, DJs playing till 11pm, MC Tom Middlebrook. And we’ve got an afterparty or two lined up already but it’s all hush hush for the moment!

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Gift Vouchers
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By the end of this week we’ll have gift vouchers for sale. Lots of people have been asking for them over the past few months and I apologise for taking this long to get to it. Drop in to purchase them or even call through with your credit card number and address and we’ll post it to you.

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Christmas and New Year’s arrangements
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We’ll be open for business in the week before Christmas including Christmas eve. Then we’ll lock the front door for just over a week before reopening the door to the new year on Saturday 2nd January. We will run extended trading hours in the week before Christmas but they are still being confirmed and will be posted on our web site. Please do check the website or call before coming in outside the normal 8am-6pm weekdays/10am-5pm Saturdays.

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Could it really bee that easy?
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Bill and the Harrison Honey Collective did a mega honey harvest last weekend so there will be raw, local honey for sale by the jar from the shop over the coming weeks. Just like the old days. Yay!

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J-Studios artist community show and shine fundraiser
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Sunday 6th December 12-9pm 100 Barkly St North Fitzroy
Entry $5 with bike , $7 without
Bands, Bicycles and BBQs … ‘pimp your pushie and show it off’ to win fab prizes!

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Some photos from the 14th Birthday Critical Mass bike ride
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http://www.flickr.com/groups/cm-melb/

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Heads up: new fines for cyclists
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http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/0F3A2091-5C0A-4D79-9D83-63CA39818E54/0/TableofCyclistsFines.pdf

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Some fun HPC events in 2010
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We’ve just heard that our application to host a session at the 2010 Sustainable Living Festival has been approved. Check the SLF site for details about the festival: http://festival.slf.org.au/
Our session will be called: The Human Powered approach to home bike maintenance
Yay!

Also in January we’ll be riding up to the Rainbow Serpent Festival on the Australia Day long weekend. At the festival we’ll host a range of bike maintenance classes and just generally kick back and have fun. yay!

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Tech talk: Some hints on how to get chain tension
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Thanks to Lewis for this writeup on ways to get chain tension on single speeds and fixies. It’s a great read before starting a conversion or new custom build.
http://www.humanpowered.com.au/wp/?p=931

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Some regular evens from BikeFun Melbourne
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Bike Polo!
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Venues are in flux, check at web http://www.bikepolo.com.au/
Melbourne Bicycle Polo Club: email melbourne.bicycle.polo.club at gmail.com
list http://groups.google.com/group/melbournebikepolo

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Darebin Bug Social Rides – Tuesdays and Thursdays ******************************************************
9:30 a.m. corner plant and union street, northcote.  40 -60 km rides mainly on bike paths and quiet streets for experienced cyclists. Bring lunch, snacks and water. Contact Norm on 9484 4767 to confirm start time and location (usually departs from Jika Jika). http://www.darebinbug.org.au/rides.html

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Darebin Bug Port Melbourne Ride – Saturdays
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9.30am Meet at Jika Jika Neighbourhood House, cnr Plant & Union Sts, Northcote.  Slow ride suitable for beginners. http://www.darebinbug.org.au/rides.html

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The Crosskeys Crusiers – Strathmore – Friday rides
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The Crosskeys Crusiers are a group of retired men and women who meet in the Crosskeys CarPark near the Strathmore station at 9am on Friday mornings. The rides are decided each Friday and the adventure begins. Some riders go till morning tea while others ride till lunch and then home at about 3pm. New members most welcome to chat and share the experience  Telephone Max 93783501 or John 93707829

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Cyclic Bikes to Mountain Goat – Fridays
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6pm sharp Cyclic Bikes, 56 Pin Oak Cres (opposite Newmarket Station)
Ride from Flemington to Mountain Goat Brewery (Richmond). Different route each week, faster than your average bikefun ride.
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YarraBUG Radio – Every Monday on 3CR
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Broadcasting every Monday at 10-10.30am on 3CR Community Radio 855am http://www.yarrabug.org/radio
Have an idea, want to be interviewed or have program feedback?  We welcome your contribution, after all YarraBUG Radio is here for you to help you make your cycling safe, fun and infectious for others. YarraBUG Radio- streaming live on the web at: http://www.3cr.org.au/3CR_streaming

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Along For The Ride – 3RRR
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3RRR’s bicycle podcast is riding along every fortnight! Download the newest podcasts at http://www.rrr.org.au/programs/podcasts.

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Most rides go at a social pace, run rain or shine, and are free (like the streets themselves).

BikeFun depends on people like you to create events and contribute to Melbourne’s creative bike community. Organise a ride (or whatever) and BikeFun will promote it. email details to: bikefun@nikdow.net

To subscribe to the Bike Fun email, send a blank email to:
bikefunmelbourne-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

Forward this email to all your friends. http://bikefun.org

Bike Fun Melbourne list homepage and archives:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/bikefunmelbourne