Is California Travis of Paul Component the ultimate bike nerd? Maybe? Regardless, he’s offering up his Ultimate Bike Nerd Vest as part of a fundraiser for San Fransisco’s Bicis del Pueblo. Check it out below!
About the Vest
During the Campfire here in Butte County a few years back, Taylor Stitch donated a bunch of fancy waxed canvas jackets, and there were so many leftovers that one ended up in my desk at work with the sleeves cut off. Working in the bike industry, cool patches show up in the mail on occasion, and when a big enough pile of them accumulated in the same drawer as the vest, it finally dawned on me that “All those things should go on that thing!” but, alas, they continued to sit and pile up for over a year.
Then one day I was hanging out in San Francisco feeling a little bummed about how the tech industry has changed a lot of the culture there, when I watched a huge and diverse group of youth riding bikes through the mission and recognized it as my homie Jessie Fernandez and his Bicis Del Pueblo group going on one of their Urban Agriculture bike rides and I got SO STOKED. Yeah Jessie!
I realized what I needed to do, and called in a favor from Kyle at Outershell. “Heeeeeey…um, how would you feel about sewing like 100 patches onto a vest for me? Wait, before you answer, I want to use it to raise money for Bicis Del Pueblo.” Kyle and Jessie have been friends for years, and he didn’t miss a beat, “Yeah man, send it over, I’ll get it done”.
Outershell sewed on 80 patches before they ran out of room, so there are 30 more patches in the pockets for the lucky winner to do what they wish. And to sweeten the deal, I’ve built a super-duper limited-edition pair of multicolor PAUL Component Klamper Disk brakes that I’ll also put in the pockets of this vest, zoinks!
How can you enter the donation raffle for this totally one-of-a-kind piece of bike nerd art? Head over to Climate Ride and donate any amount you can afford, then forward your confirmation email to travis@paulcomp.com to be entered into the drawing. A lucky winner will be picked at random on Monday, June 20 (one month from today).
About Bicis Del Pueblo
The seeds of Bicis Del Pueblo were planted when a group of San Francisco youth took a trip to North Dakota to attend the Protecting Mother Earth Conference. There they saw first-hand the effects of the fossil fuel economy on Native American communities and deepened their awareness and commitment to becoming environmental justice stewards at home.
Back in San Francisco, the youth created a series of bicycle tours to highlight environmental health hazards in their neighborhoods. This powerful experience woke us to another set of challenges; access to bikes and barriers to riding confidently in the city. From that point, Bicis Del Pueblo has been evolving and making the road by riding it.
Since 2014 hundreds of recycled bicycles have been distributed to working families and youth of color from San Francisco’s Southeast neighborhoods. These bikes are made available through the City’s Unclaimed BicycleProperties Program and in-kind donations. Through this partnership, we are able to divert bikes from the landfill, fix them up, and get them into the hands of community members.
Bicis Del Pueblo exists to create bicycling infrastructure and environmental justice stewardship in transit-dependent and historically disenfranchised lower-income communities of color by engaging in bike-based community education and cooperative practices. Community members from Southeast San Francisco neighborhoods are supported through activities focused on learning, teaching and sharing bicycle education and skills. BDP supports low-income families, youth, and communities of color to incorporate bicycling in their everyday activities that strengthen public health, deepen community resiliency, and reduces fossil fuel consumption. We believe that bicycling, investments in public health, and access to tools and knowledge are vital in achieving environmental justice in our local neighborhoods. We strive to co-create a safe space for people of color, immigrants, women, and gender non-conforming community members.
