Vie Cycle Workshop Guidelines

Instructors, participants and volunteer mechanics are asked to abide by the Vie Cycle guidelines detailed below.

• Always seek consent before touching someone’s body, bicycle, tools or personal items. 
• Refer to people and groups by their preferred pronouns or with gender-neutral pronouns (ex. zee, they/them), or the group pronoun that is chosen by the participants. (ex. folks, mechanics, students)
• Never take a tool out of someone’s hand. If you are tempted to, take a step back. 
• When you have a question, pause first and ask yourself if you have the answer. If you're still stumped, ask a peer if they know the answer. If you're still perplexed, ask an instructor or volunteer mechanic. This gives participants the opportunity to pool their resources rather than turning to an authority figure too quickly. 
• Ask what kind of help someone wants before jumping in. (ex. Do you want me to explain a process or do you need to see it done to understand it best?)
• Always give advice with non-biased language, your experience may be different from that of the other participants. (ex. Rather than saying, “it’s really easy, you just turn counter clockwise,” explain the process in another way. “Depending on how you look at the spoke, the nipples screw on if different directions. From this angle you’ll need to twist left or anti-clockwise.”)
• It’s ok for people to get a little frustrated working on a bike problem. It’s more empowering for people to learn from ours mistakes than to have someone else solve a problem.  Rather than stepping in to make something easier, be available if someone has a questions.
• Being under the influence of mind-altering drugs or alcohol is not permitted during workshops.
• Participants can set their own rules/boundaries in addition to the guidelines listed above.