Sometimes it doesn't seem that way. But we really do have a wonderful bike community. We just need to learn how to train the motorists. (or bettter yet convert them into cyclists ).

I understand the picture thing. Somehow, the 2D picture loses something, or maybe it is the "real time" nature of life. I cannot recognize things in pictures. I have tried to recognize plants from feild guides and I am always uncertain. But if someone points it out, live, I am fine, and get it. I am also better with drawings, because they eliminate much of the extraneous visual detail that clutters a photograph. Besides, the bicycle is never just like yours. In fact, If I had a camera, I would have taken pictures as we worked, then I could build my own individualized manual.

I discovered the coop through an ad in some biking literature. I beleive it was a brochure for an event called Pedalpalooza. It could have been a free biking magazine/newspaper. Since I was an alumna of Portland State University, I decided to check it out. I am not sure if it is really a cooperative structure (ie the members are like stockholders). It is administered by the University under the Parking Department (or some such department), so it is not a student run organization. An example of a cooperative is REI.

They have a little space (in a parking garage, how subversive!), perhaps 8 by 10 feet. I think they had 2 bike stands, two guys were there, one helped me, another seemed to be working on another woman's bike while she watched. I had thought it was to provide space and tools for people to fix their own bikes, but she didn't seem to be. I am member number 299. In the 2.5 hours I was there, one other person came by. Being a really small space, 299 seems like a lot of members, but I didn't have to wait or anything. I wonder what it is like during the schoolyear.

I know of three other non-profit organizations, who also provide this sort of help. Exchange Cycle tours has a mission to promote cultural exchange through cycling tours, and they host bike workshops on Saturdays. Mississippi Bikeworks is a small shop, I beleive that they are employee-owned, but they have a women's and transgendered clinic on Wednesday nights.

http://www.bikeshop.pdx.edu/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExchangeCycleTours/
http://www.npdxbikeworks.org/

We also have a group, but I can't think of their name, and they recycle bicycles. They take in donations, and refurbish them, and give them away through their programs, or sell them to generate funds.

I beleive that I have also seen classes run by local bike shops, but they ran around $100 and up (Though I understand they need to pay the rent, and earn a profit, and pay the employees).

If I could not find these reasurces so readily, I would join a local club, such as a chapter of American Wheelman. I meet so many people who say that they don't have time for clubs, and just don't have an interest. But I always find that the best way for me to hook into a group of people specifically interested in my new interest. And the comraderie is something that keeps me engaged, when I get frustrated, or the next fancy catches my eye and I start to drift. The LOCAL knowledge is something I can't find elsewhere. And when I volunteer for the organization, I get to know "who's who."

So if I were airdropped into a new area I would:

1) Google "Bicycling CityX StateY"
2)Call or visit my local library to see if they have a database of local organizations.
3)Stop at the LBS for any free literature by local clubs, advertising rags.
4)If I saw someone on a bike similar to mine, I realize that I have met a kindred spirit, and compliment them on it. Get around to asking them what they do to fix their bike. (My personal attraction is toward funky homebrew trailers.)

I have also used this to obtain peices of plants that I admire in someone's yard. People need to share things, they need to know they have something of value to offer, and have their own values authenticated. This sounds patronizing, but it isn't. I only tell them the truth, that I admire something in their garden, or their funky trailer. (Well, asking for a plant is not like anything else. Plants want to grow, they enlist animals to aid them. A gardener is a specific type of animal, they may be concious that they are helping spread the plant, and have some choice in the matter, but the plant is also selecting them, by being attractive.)

Asking for advice is similar. Humans survive through their culture. Bicycles and the knowledge to fix them is a part of that culture.

5)If this didn't work, I would ask around in my other interest groups. It seems that certain interests form constellations, due to a shared value, i.e. nature, health, sustainability.
6)Working with a partner, even if neither of you knows the answer, works. You will have different insights into something. And it is just not so frustrating, when you have someone to commiserate.

Good luck, and may the local wrenches and their Gods smile upon you,
Mary