BIKE KITCHEN [about]

ABOUT US

The Bike Kitchen is a project of the UBC Bike Co-op, with the support of the UBC Alma Mater Society and the Trek Program Centre. Any extra revenue raised by the Bike Kitchen is used by the UBC Bike Co-op to provide bicycle programs on campus and in the larger community - last year the Kitchen raised over $7,500!
Current Staff

Yvonne:

Yvonne has been the self-titled employee of the month for 10 months running. Before coming to the Bike Kitchen, Yvonne was held captive in an oppressive nunnery in Calgary alongside a monkey named Boots, a tank full of guppies, and her own vivid imagination. She has since escaped and now happily claims Vancouver as her home. her interests include: cute boys with broad shoulders, bike building projects that span over two years, Labrador dogs, pan-Asian cuisine, and re-discovering her Chinese heritage by watching 80s B movies like 'Big Trouble Little China'. Please feel free to come in and talk to her about interesting things like Chinese history and why you think she is pretty. Yvonne has recently started a business with Star called RackNaps. The best twenty dollars you will ever spend, hands down.

Emiliano:

Have a 3 speed internal Sturmey-Archer nightmare? Seek no further: salvation manifested in the form of Emiliano. Originally made in Mexico and imported to Canada soon thereafter. Emiliano graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art with the delicate art of magic image capturing and Design. Since completing the mechanic's apprenticeship, here at the Kitchen, Emiliano has taken to all aspects of the trade to include inflating the tubes really really big for fun and building square wheels. Now that takes talent. Seriously though, making leaps and bounds, Emiliano will no doubt be one of the most talented bike mechanics the Kitchen has ever known, should he stick around long enough to hear us tell him so.

Cameron:

Cameron is an excellent addition to our Awesome Bike-kitchen Bravado Action-team, also known as ABBA. Cameron is originally from Coquitlam which, despite popular misconceptions, is not in a different time zone. In his free time, Cameron likes to garden, sing in a choir, and save the world with his cat Shelby. Cam is by far the neatest mechanic, and his workstation is always meticulously organised. He also holds the Bike Kitchen record for bringing a home-made lunch for the most number of consecutive days and also tends to feed the troops for staff meetings with delicious home grown parsnips. and those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! mmm mmm good. Ask him about his cat, ask him about his choir, ask him what he did last night, then ask him to help you with your bike.

Evan:

Evan used to be a semi driver/dealer in Port Kells. He has since seen the light and begun his new life in the world of bikes. Evan's the kinda guy that likes bridge mix. He is so dedicated to the Bike Kitchen that he has moved in with Yvonne and that shows a lot of dedication! I hear he reads her the Park Tools manual while they sip hot toddies in their bunk beds. Evan's allergy to rubber has allowed him to be resourceful in using various methods of...(these elipses indicate our subtle sex joke) grips and bar tape. Evan looks a lot like Hermey the misfit elf in the claymation version of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. But he is six feet tall. His heart is eight feet tall. Dripping with warm, friendly blood.

Lucas:

So you think this one looks all nice and innocent? Well think again. The last time Lucas tried to grow a beard he got arrested for it. However, a couple of years at the big house didn't keep Lucas from becoming a ... killer ... mechanic. Now armed with numerous anecdotes and a rubber mallet, he'll tension your wheel faster than you could pick up a bar of soap. Lucas is the Bike Kitchen's all-star pro bicycle racer, always placing better than your mother (thats right). The next time you see Lucas ask him to model his nude colored UNI-BIB, it's worth the $7.50 an hour shop time to see.

Bike Kitchen Hall of Fame

Emily:

A chat with Emily makes you feel like you just finished a French feelgood (movie). Emily has a new style of flat top, called the wispy top. She has no set bedtime. She is currently building a chicken coop. She eats out of little plastic baggies with chocolate chips and almonds in them. Emily is very athletic. Emily is in the dolphin family. If in her thirties she became a triathlete, nobody would be shocked, because Emily has already been a triathelete. Emily's interests include Africa, campfires, treehouses, and playing crib. A coworker calls Emily "A glowing keener, full of youthful passion". We are happy that OCB lets her play at our house.

Star:

This feisty mechanic is an amazing import from the faraway land and exotic shores of London, Ontario. Star left her studies at the mysterious Ninja High-School to persue a life of Womens Studies at SFU, and has since shared in the greasy glamour of the Bike Kitchen. The covert assassin world's loss has certainly been a great gain for the cycling world, for Star uses her amazing abilities to keep us all from killing each other at meetings. Well, maybe not something that dramatic and violent but she is an indispensable addition to the heart and soul of the Bike Kitchen. So if ever you need help adjusting your cantilever brakes or just want to wax intellectual with someone, let Star be your guide.

Monique:

Monique is the newest addition to ABBA. She washed up on the west coast from Maine, we assume she drifted through the northern passage, stopping by Quebec just long enough to develop a taste for poutine. She has settled well on this coast, making a living hustling tourists dressed in a costume that makes anyone over the age of 40 sing the theme to the movie "Goldfinger." She enjoys hiking, telling stories and winning fist fights. Don't be fooled by her demure appearance, she was boxing barenuckle back in the 40s. Since becoming a part of the bike kitchen family, she has mastered the fine art of scrimshaw and created busts of our most regular customers.

Laura:

Andrea:

Bike Kitchen Staff (Christmas 2008)