Your fantastic support over the course of the last seven years has given us the opportunity to teach countless people the simple fact that biking can be an enjoyable and cost efficient form of transportation. With your continued support, we are excited to transition from teaching one person at a time to supporting the local people and organizations that share our mission.

Throughout the years we have watched the cycling experience in Tampa improve in leaps and bounds; major bike brands now create more budget friendly commuter bikes available at local bike shops, and these same shops offer repair clinics, showing a commitment to the idea that bicycle repair need not be exclusive know-how. As a result, we feel that it’s time to turn our efforts to connecting those that want to learn with those that want to teach and finding new venues to spread the message that bikes can serve many purposes for many people.

Our last open shop hours will be on Saturday, August 16th from 9am – 6pm. We currently have a garage full of bikes, projects and parts that will need to find a new home. While some of our functional parts and tools will be donated to our friends at the St. Pete Bike Co-op and God’s Pedal Power, there is still quite a collection of weird odds and ends that need to find new homes. As a send-off and huge thanks to everyone that has supported us, we’ll be having a BBQ and Bike Sale on Saturday, August 16th! We are excited to use the proceeds from this sale as our first grant to start and seed a bicycle project at the Well on Florida Ave!

The Co-op as you’ve known it all these years will not exist after this summer, and we will be saddest of all to see it go. However, we want to continue to play a positive and productive role in Tampa’s cycling community, and the support we received from our many faithful members and passers-by alike will allow us to do just that. Our volunteers are working hard on the next projects to come after our transition, and if you would like to stay apprised of updates, watch our mailing list or Facebook. Ride safe, Tampa, and thanks for keeping it DIY all these years.

xo

TBBC