1.  Don Nairn – founder volunteer. Don’s  been a familiar presence at the Workshop since it opened. He recently changed jobs and  can  no longer make  Saturday mornings. Many of you will remember Don:  patiently explaining bike repairs; giving courses on punctures or gears; helping people choose bikes; etc. He was there virtually every Saturday, and  did a lot during the first year to get the workshop off to a good start. He came up with ideas for generating an income stream, from saving spare parts to sell.

Don, we’re sad to see you  go, but we send a large “THANK YOU!’ for the effort and time you gave to many people.  

2.  Bikes for Pipalyatjara community school APY lands.  last week and this we’ll be working on a batch of 8-9,  26 in mountain  bikes for teenagers at  Pipalyatjara, a very remote Aboriginal community on the APY lands. We’re often  asked about getting bikes to the APY lands. No shortage of demand there,  or bikes here. The barrier is transport, its cost, and lack of a regular service.  In 2009 we sent BMXs to Mutitjulu community, which is relatively accessible, and  thanks to the nearby Yulara resort, has a regular freight service . Cost $280 for 4 bikes.

 For Pipalyatjara, there was a bus going  up empty  during the school holidays, to bring  school boarders back to Adelaide. The bus was a large one, so  could take bikes …. But at the last minute the run was cancelled & in future they’re using a smaller vehicle. We now intend to ship the bikes by road freight, on the truck that takes food from Alice, for the Pip community store.

 Big thanks to the 20+ Adelaide Cyclists members, who said they’d chip in  to help with costs of transport. We’ll get the bikes on their way, then contact you re your pledges.   Thanks also to Dave S, Matthew, Joel, Tamba and Jawid for their help with the bikes …

3.  New tools:

(a) full socket set, metric & imperial

(b) 300 mm Stilson for those difficult screw-in parts that have no flat edges for spanners . 

(c) 3 extra 10mm spanners, Cr-V,ground thin. 10mm get used a lot so extras are needed;   adjusting calliper brakes on childrens bikes or older road bikes, always needs 2 of them.

4. Interesting bike :  Cumberland Cycles bike, from memory,  1-speed Mens, salmon pink. From  when many Adelaide bike shops assembled their own bikes, and each shop had its own label to put on the bike. .