how to start a bike collective

This is from my talk in Oaxaca Mexico about how to start a bike collective:

Hello,

My name is Momoko Saunders.  I live in portland OR and 5 years ago, a group of friends and I started the bike farm. We were just a bunch of idealist mid 20 year olds, realizing there was a need in our city for a bicycle collective. A bicycle collective is a place where you can learn to fix your bike.  

The idea was not new, San Francisco and LA had the bike kitchens and bikerowave, Seattle had the bikery. These bike collectives where in every major cycling city, it only made sense that portland should have one too. So we gathered up a list of interested friends, and we stared to have meetings to talk about how we were going to make one of these in our city. The process was quick. We divvied up responsibilities, some people made a tool list, of all the tools we'd need to run the shop, and other contacted bands they knew and asked if they'd put on benefit shows so we could fund raise. Another group of people set about writing letters to all the bike shops in town, asking for donations of tools or used parts. In a month, we had 3 parties, and raised about $1000. We had about 5 donated bikes, a bucket or two of used parts, and permission to use a friends garage for our shop. We had a work party, painted the walls fresh, and put up our tools. We had our first official meeting on September 7th and by December 1st, we were open and helping people fix their bikes.  

Our beginnings were slow, we helped maybe 20 people in the first month and made all of $97. But every month was better, and now we've been running for 5 years and thousands of people have fixed their bike in our shop.

I tell you this not because I think this is some recipe for creating a collective, but rather to inspire the idea in you that anyone can. I want you to understand that the hardest part about building a collective is showing up. But the reality is, if you show up, and you have tools, you can help people get on bikes. And it's not just helping them fix a flat, it's empowering them, it's saving them money, it's helping your city with it's pollution or crowded streets. It's doing your part to make the world a better place.