and creator the Live the Revolution event.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Everyone’s talking about the Live the Revolution event happening tomorrow night (Thursday, 10/17) at Clinton Street Theater. The event is organized by Sugar Wheel Works, a custom wheel-building company based in north Portland. This is the fourth year Sugar’s owner Jude Gerace has put on the event. In addition to being a fundraiser for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Safe Routes to School programs, Live the Revolution is also an anniversary party for Gerace, who opened her doors back in 2009 (as Epic Wheel Works, a name she was forced to change due to the threat of legal action from Specialized Bicycle Components).
The event draws on the personal bicycling stories of interesting local personalities. The list of speakers includes: bicycle builder Joseph Ahearne; head chef at Clyde Commons Chris Diminno; online editor of Bitch Magazine Sarah Mirk; and writer, rider, and photographer Heidi Swift.
To learn more about the event, I asked Jude a few questions…
What inspired you to do a live storytelling event?
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I thought this would be a great way to help people remember what got them started on a bike or at least what has helped them rekindle their love for their bike. Stories are a great way to connect and experience the resilience of the human spirit — on two wheels.
How/why did you pick those specific storytellers?
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I love all of these storytellers. They each have a different take on what brought them to be on two wheels. They’re going to put on a great show. Some stories will make you laugh and other stories put a tear in the eye. They’ll also be room for volunteers from the audience!
Sugar Wheel Works is a service business, why do you this event?
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Here’s the raw and uncut version of why we do it and it’s not glamorous but it works: I could spend money in advertising or I could reallocate funds I would otherwise spend to advertise, get some other like minded businesses involved and leverage our investment to do great things for our cycling community. So far, it’s working. People learn more about us (and the other businesses) and we rally together for a cause that is worth getting all passionate about. The next generation of cyclists deserve attention and support and we want to be a part of that and we want to do it with other like minded people and we wanna have a whole lot of fun in the process.
How much have you raised for Safe Routes so far?
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In the four years we’ve been doing this over $10K.
Anything else you want the community to know?
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The event is entirely paid for by us and our sponsors which means every last penny raised on October 17 will be used for bike safety and education programs. It will continue to sustain the program and help it grow to areas in need of support — especially lower income areas. We have a goal of raising 5K this year and we’ll make it worth your while by putting on one awesome show. Oh yeah, and I also got talked into telling a story…not that people want to come to hear me talk but I’m excited to share one of the greatest life lessons I’ve ever learned on a bike — it’s my own personal story of courage.
We hope to see a huge crowd tomorrow night! You can purchase tickets online via the BTA for $12. Details are below or check it out on Sugar’s site.
Live the Revolution
Thursday October 17, 2013
Clinton Street Theater
Doors open at 5:30pm. Stories start at 6:30.
Judith is super awesome, likely even before the day we met, but certainly every day afterward.
Truth. She taught me how to build wheels and holy hell do they last!
If memory serves, she was not “forced to change” the name of her business. She contacted SBC pre-emptively, wherein they told her that “Epic” posed a possible trademark infringement. She then changed the name to something that sounded better to her, after all. At least that’s how I remember it being reported. Reckon Mrs. Gerace could clarify.