Thank you to all the cyclists out there who donated their time and energy making their bikes better in our bike workspace. It’s been a really good season for all volunteers and participants.

Like every bicycle, Bike Pirates needs an overhaul from the busy season. From December 31st to January 8th Bike Pirates will be closed for renovations. In order to make a better space possible, volunteers will be on-site all through the week, but we won’t be open due to massive tuneup of bike pirates.

To help and get involved with the renovations, please email us.

My whole heart goes out to the family of the female cyclist killed at Dundas & Sterling today. Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists will hold a memorial for her next Monday.

7:30am @ Spidina and Bloor.

8:00am @ Sterling and Dundas

Photo by Martin Ries

Come out on Friday, November 11th to launch our latest issue of the journal, lucky issue 13! We’re launching at Bike Pirates. $10 gets you in and a copy of the journal.

As always, subscribers and sustainers get in for free.

Upping the Anti 13 includes:
- Erica Meiners, Liam Michaud, Josh Pavan, and Bridget Simpson on queer responses to sexual offender registries
- Sunera Thobani on the tenth anniversary of 9/11
- Nick Dyer-Witheford on the circulation of the commons
- Interview with Joaquin Cienfuegos on CopWatch LA
- Interview with Mikhail Bjorges on CUPW’s 2011 strike
- Interview with Jesse Rosenfeld on Palestine solidarity and the Freedom Flotilla II
- Interview with Neil Smith on revolutionary ambition under austerity
- Roundtable with members of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
Book reviews and more…

Putting out this issue was quite the labour of love, so please come out and help us celebrate its launch in style with DJ b# and DJ Nik Red.

See you all there!

At noon on Saturday October 29 Friends of West Toronto Railpath will officially open the Community shed on Railpath at the Wallace Avenue Bridge. This shed was donated to the path to help residents promote cycling, community gardening, and other events such as movie nights and Nuit Blanche.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Toronto_RailPath

The Railpath and the shed were supported by Railpath Friend Hilary Bell who passed away this summer and was much beloved for her tireless community volunteerism. With the approval of her family the shed will be known as Hilary’s Shed, a nod to her work and he good natured and informal personality.

On the 29th the shed will be officially opened and in keeping with hopes for future use Bike Pirates will be present to offer free bike tuneups and information right on the Railpath for the afternoon. Bikes for donation can also be dropped off and the Bike Pirates will refurbish them and give them a new life. Intended to help with outreach by groups such as the Bike Pirates the shed has also been recently used by Not Far From The Tree, an organization that harvests fruit from residential trees and donates the results to the homeowners and food banks.

Drop by and say hello, make new friends, fix your bike, and even better donate a bike.

At Bike Pirates an AGM is held every year to elect the board of directors and inform their members of previous and future activities. It is an opportunity for the shareholders and partners to receive copies of the company’s accounts as well as reviewing fiscal information for the past year and asking any questions regarding the directions the business will take in the future.

Agenda Items for Bike Pirates AGM:

Introduction: Review of Bike Pirates’ mission statement, structure and goals

Review of Bike Pirates operations for 2011
- open shop hours (general business review)
- the building (construction, issues to be resolved, landlords and lease)
- finances (income, expenses, growth)

Secondary projects review
- offsite and workshop opportunities *would be great to have a list of the groups/orgs. we now have a working relationship with*
- cooking programming and garden initiative
- events in the space (ours and others’) (including last year’s Bike!Bike!)

Committees
- review of committee structure proposed at previous AGM
- reports from current committees
- request for volunteers to join and steer committees, new or old

Board of directors
- review of current board and its organization processes
- elect new members

Future plans and goals
- finance
- the space
- the collective
- hours and programming
- ongoing projects with other organizations

On Thursday August 25th, meet us with your bicycle at Trinity Bellwoods Park between 6:30 and 7:00 PM. The tour starts at 7:00 PM sharp.

Art Spin is a free event, and everyone is welcome!

If you can’t make the tour, join us afterwards for our Second Annual Art Spin Exhibition and the grand opening of 99 Gallery. The reception runs from 9-Midnight and includes drinks and live music!