Three-day bike conference includes workshops, bevy of events

The third annual Bike!Bike!Southeast! conference comes to Charleston this weekend, hosted by the Holy City Bike Co-op.

From Friday-Sunday, members of the Greater Charleston biking community as well as the leaders of more than 30 Southeastern bike co-ops and other organizations will get together through a series of events and workshops to discuss bike history and maintenance in addition to the successes and failures of fundraising and other components of starting a nonprofit business.

The conference was inspired by the Bike!Bike! international conference organized by and intended for nonprofit bike organizations. Bike!Bike!Southeast! is the regional country-fried offshoot and previously has been hosted by Sopo Bicycle Co-op in Atlanta and FreeWheel Bike Collective in Louisville, Ky.

This year's event will offer business-oriented workshops geared towards nonprofit start-up advice and a variety of bike workshops. Featured business workshops include "Finding Grants With Library Resources," "A Meeting About Meetings," "Mapping Your Organization's Talents," "Shop Spaces as Safe Spaces," "Blood, Sweat, and Fundraising: Special Events and You," "Using Social Media to Engage your Community" and "Getting Your 501(c)3 On" for aspiring nonprofits.

Bike workshops include "Bike Maintenance 101," "Bike Polo Forum," "DIY Bike Painting Class," "Antique and Classic Bicycle Restoration and Maintenance," "On the Road Repairs," "DIY Carbon Fiber Frames," "The History of the Bicycle and Its Impact on American Culture," "Wheel Building and Truing," "Tall Bike Riding Lesson," a reuse/repurpose class on salvaging old parts and frames and a DIY sewing class that will teach riders how to sew a cycling cap pattern.

Holy City Bike Co-op members will be leading some of the workshops. The local instructors include John Chritton, Eric Morton, Dan Kelley, J.J. Reeves, Steve Risse and Andrea Tremols.

There are some outsourced specialists as well. Frank T. Puricelli wrote his graduate thesis on early 20th-century transportation technology, and he will host both "The History of The Bicycle and Its Impact on American Culture" and "Antique and Classic Bike Restoration and Maintenance."

Rebecca O'Brien is the founder of three Lowcountry nonprofits, and she will be teach the seminar on how to obtain a 501(c)3.

Chris Winn, producer of New Belgian Brewery's Tour de Fat, has raised more than $1 million through bicycle fundraising endeavors, and he will take charge of the "Blood, Sweat and Fundraising" workshop.

Both the schedule of events and the registration page are at www.bikebikecharleston.com. Check-in and registration will be held noon-5:30 p.m. at Redux Studios on Friday. The co-op sees the opportunity to host this year's regional conference as both a way to network with other bike groups in the surrounding areas and also a way to reach out to suburban and coastal cyclists in the Charleston area who don't live downtown.

Dan Kelley, one of the co-op's founding members and a planner of this biking event, is excited about the impact on the local biking community.

"It's an opportunity to learn from each other so we can be better citizens, better serve our communities and develop a support network between cities," Kelley said.

The Holy City Bike Co-op is asking for a cash donation of $20-$30 for the event, but will not turn attendees down for a lack of funds. Local sponsors for the event also include MyBikeLaw.com, Charleston Moves, Cru Catering, Theatre 99, Affordabike, Andolini's Pizza and The Hub.