Bike Valet, Volunteering, and Farmer's Market - a Great Combo!

Today was Farmer's Market (as it is every Saturday morning and early afternoon) in Longmont. Though I have known about (and even promoted) Bicycle Longmont for some time now, I have avoided volunteering or even really participating with the group in the past. This was mostly due to the fact that we felt like outsiders in our own city until we recently moved into the heart of the city. We finally decided it was time to get involved and actual volunteer with the group here in our community, rather than just talking about it, or sharing what they do with others. Here's the super cool bike shirt that I was excited to wear ('cuz I love me a fun bicycle shirt).

Yeah, I'm rockin' the bird and bicycle shirt.

Both Sam and I were able to help out and volunteer to help valet park bicycles with Bicycle Longmont, and I have to say, it was a pretty cool experience. The other volunteers were great, and, for the most part, the people who wanted to park their bikes were pretty great too. When we first arrived they were setting up, but there were already bicycles to be parked.

Setting up for Farmer's Market and valeting parking bikes

While it seemed fairly busy to us, they said it was actually fairly slow while we were there, and the suspicion is that the heat of yesterday (and fear of the same heat for today) was keeping people off their bikes. A shame really, as it was a lovely ride over and back.

Bicycle Longmont's set up for the bike valet at Farmer's Market

There was a ton of information to provide to people who were seeking information about local trails, classes, and so on, and we were happy to share with anyone who was willing to listen.

Table o'stuff to give out to info-seekers

Unfortunately, I was so involved with talking to people and parking bicycles that I never made it to take pictures of all the fresh fruits and veggies that were all around us. I did, however, find the time to volunteer Sam to help out with the groups' web needs (not sure he was thrilled about my volunteering him, but it's too late now).

He's smiling, but I think it's an "I'm going to strangle you later" look, really.

If, like us, you've put off volunteering with your local bicycle advocacy group, perhaps you should look into it.  If you don't have an advocacy group in your city, perhaps it's something you could help start. I think it's highly worth the time invested, and it's always great to meet people who love to ride their bikes.