As a dude who’s been telling bits of his bike story here for going on a decade, I was curious to check it out an event called Bike Story Night. The stars aligned, meaning I heard about it in time and wasn’t busy. So, last Saturday I pedaled Soqi the Cannondale over to the University of Texas at Austin, commonly known as UT (you tee). (Check out my post about UT: The University of Texas and Me:  A Short Autobiography.) There I saw a few familiar faces and a few dozen new ones. The premise  is fairly straightforward:  people come together to tell and hear stories about bikes. Here’s a short report.

But first, you should read my previous post, Dude, Come to the Dark Side of E-Bikes. And be aware that on this day 57 years ago, 4/4/1968, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. I wrote a post that referenced him after I found a picture of him riding a bike. MLK on a Bike, the Struggle for Justice…

Anyway, Bike Story Night was entertaining. There are two storytellers selected before hand, who have up to 10 minutes. Several others are picked out of hat of those who sign up on the spot but they have slightly less time. One story was about a birthday ride from Austin to San Antonio, another about going up a mountain in California in cold weather, a third a couple that stumbled upon a renaissance fair(e). They were interesting, amusing, and at times educational. Photos were projected for several of the stories. The events are recorded so you can see for yourself if you like.

There’s an intermission, snacks and drinks, door prizes, and bike community announcements. The event is the passion of its founder, Valerie Ruiz, who has taken the show on the road to other towns in Texas. If you’re reading this the day after publication, the fourth BSN campout is happening east of Austin.

The folks from UT’s Orange Bike Project were there. Patterned after the Yellow Bike Project (since orange is the school color of the Texas Longhorns), the three young men shared how they got involved and how the shop is available to students to learn to fix their own bikes, among other services like renting a bike for the semester.

The highlight for me though was a short film featuring a woman who also spoke. Moveta is her name. She went through a stressful move across the country with her children right after getting a scary medical diagnosis. She had surgery, then recovery. A big part of her healing both physically and emotionally was through biking with others.

I saw a few familiar faces, including a coordinator at Yellow Bike Project, a guy I saw on some group rides out in the Hill Country and here and there since, plus even a neighbor! All in all, it was an interesting, fun night, and a cool concept.

By the way, regarding my last post, I may have stretched the truth a bit. Or woven it completely out of whole cloth. In reality, I did not swap Soqi with my friend Rhodney’s e-bike. The photos were all staged. I remain motorcycle free. Read the first letter of each paragraph for a clue. That and the reference to the Strava media alert. Uh, that and the publication date. Surprisingly, it didn’t ring any warning bells for anyone, except my critique writing partner, who’s now on an extended and maybe permanent break. To all who were fooled, I’m sorryless. Y’all should know me better than that! Although an e-bike may be in my future given all my ailments, not today, motorcycles. Not today.

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