Academy Of Sciences | Stalk Bicycles

Earth Day: The Aftermath

It’s been almost two weeks since Earth Day and the “wounds” are still fresh. It was a lot of work but boy was it worth it! For those of you that missed it, Stalk Bicycles was invited to participate in the SF California Academy of Sciences’ 3-day Earth Day event. The team was there for Thursday night’s Nightlife party, then camped out for two more days of non-stop Earth Day action. Nearly 13,800 people came by the Academy over those three days…those are amazing numbers. It gave us new respect for all of the work that is required to operate that facility. It’s a combination zoo, aquarium, museum, learning and research facility all in one.

While the entire weekend was a story unto itself, the real story was meeting all of the bicycle enthusiasts young and younger that came by our exhibit. The kids loved spinning the cranks and wheels on our bikes. If Stalk Bicycles doesn’t work out, our backup plan is to create an amusement park. There’s Disneyland, Lego Land, Sea World and the like. We would create Bike Land…a big parking lot full of bikes. Kids could spin wheels and cranks until their arms fell off.

An interesting subset of enthusiasts weren’t even bicycle enthusiasts. They were craftsmen and plant lovers. We met surfboard shapers, custom furniture builders, carpenters and a few bamboo growers who asked lots of great questions and shared their stories. It was as if our bamboo bikes got us into “the club”. There’s a mutual respect between people who have suffered through the trials and tribulations of building something from scratch. One furniture builder actually came by to ask about our joint wrapping techniques because he had been contracted by a client to build a custom bamboo ladder for their home library. Another stand-up paddle boarder came by and shared his adventures with using bio-resin to repair a broken board. We had a great time trading stories.

Special thanks go out to Lisa and her team at The Academy of Sciences for working with us and giving us the opportunity of sharing our wares. Until the next Earth Day…live responsibly.