We’re moving in!
Happy almost-February! Over the past few weeks I’ve bid farewell to my station as service manager at The Cargo Bike Shop on Williamson Street, and have begun moving boxes of starter inventory over to 1861 Northport Drive, future location of Cool Bikes North.
When you walk through our doors this spring, you’ll find a neighborhood bike shop with a capable service department, a thoughtful selection of practical and enjoyable accessories, new bicycles for sale, and [Madison’s only??? Tell me if I’m wrong] a Saddle Library. That last part is so cool I need to tell you about it later.
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Let me tell you a little about myself, first.
I credit my mother, Phyllis, with getting me into bikes, 100%. She taught me how to ride. She modeled biking for me as I saw her ride for joy, ride with friends, ride as a form of transportation. She also got me my first bike shop job at the olde & gone Willy Bikes out on East Wash, the summer job where I made the quantum leap to bike geek.
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Since then we’ve gone a lot of places, bikes and I. I’ve moved from one city to another by bike. I’ve moved food, mail, and court documents around cities for other people by bike. (Food delivery was the best, court documents the worst.) My favorite type of riding is Going Around Doing Things.
COVID winter #1 got me off the delivery beat and into my fifth bike shop job, The Cargo Bike Shop. That’s Jamie in the pic. Remember meeting people during that time and getting to know their mask face first? Cargo is a gem of a neighborhood bike shop, with a specialty in big bikes meant to be loaded up to 500 lbs. Most of these bikes’ riders are hauling kids and replacing car trips. They’re going around doing things. I loved it.
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I think bikes are one of the best things about cities, and I think cities are one of the best things about bikes. Bikes are city tools. Tools for joy, for mental health, for getting there, for survival, for embodied movement through the world.
Build-out is on the brain, but it’s a short while yet before the drywall dust flies, so I’ve been taking the pleasure of digging into the myriad decisions that need to be made, like what materials to stock in the workshop. For bearing grease we’ll be using Phil’s. It’s made of heavily refined mineral oil. That makes it no angel, but nor is it the devil we know as PTFE / Teflon. The choices aren’t always awesome, but there are still choices. This stuff smells good…and works great. Anyway, just picture me curling up at night with a stack of Material Safety Data Sheets. (It’s not true, really, but I think it’s a nice image.)
Next month: Brands, Build-out, & what’s a Saddle Library anyway?
Next email is going to be a doozie. I can’t wait to: spill the beans on the bike brands we’ll be offering; prove I can dust off the rudimentary carpentry and renovation skills I’ve let go dormant for the past decade; and explain how our Saddle Library will help you find your Cinderella slipper bike seat.
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I’ll leave you with a special subscribers-only present: this gif of yours-truly captured from a tender moment just after college, or about two years into my journey as a bike nerd. Here I am, professing the joys of the single-speed experience.
Okay, so maybe next time I’ll have a close-to-current likeness of myself to share as well. I’m so glad you’re with me on this journey to create an awesome new neighborhood bike shop. It’s going to be equal parts concept and reality.
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