Top 10 Reasons to Support Your Local Bike Shop

10. Classes

Many shops offer classes at night an on weekends. These classes can range from basic maintenance to entering your first race. The knowledge base at many shops can be extremely helpful and most are more than willing to share!

9. Lifetime adjustments
Many shops offer lifetime adjustments on the miles they sell. This can offset the possible initial higher cost of the bike over a "big box" retailer. Besides they have better bikes.

8. Local events
Many shops will sponsor local events. Usually you can find them offering simple repairs, tire inflation, special deals, and sometimes samples (I have lots of shop tire levers in my tool kit). I have even been given the occasional beer!

7. Free advice
Most of the shop guys & gals are cyclists themselves. The one thing we cyclists love to do is talk about cycling. Ask a question and you will get TONS of good information.

6. They support their community
The owners of most bike shops work, live, & play in their community. They usually want their community to thrive which will in turn help their shop. That doesn't mean that they are all selfish and only want more business, that happens to be a perk. With a thriving community, all businesses and residents win!

5. They're as passionate as you are
As I mentioned before, most shop owners & employees are cyclists and love to ride too. They love cycling and everything about it - just like you! Why not be with "your people"?

4. Local shop rides
Lots of shops sponsor local rides. These rides can be a lot of fun. Some of them have fees and others are free. Look for a shop sponsored ride near you!

3. Sponsorship
If you race, some shops will sponsor you. This can range from providing a kit (they get the advertising) to equipment, to paying your entry fees. You may be asked to perform id you get sponsored ie. make it on the podium.

2. You keep your dollars in your community
Shopping at your local shop keeps your dollars local. They typically aren't huge corporations, they are small businesses that depend on your dollars to survive. Sure their prices may be a little higher, but that's because they don't have the buying power that the huge national stores have. The service you get at your local shop cannot be measured monetarily.

1. These are your people.
Why wouldn't you want to support "like hearted" people? If you call one of the national shops to order something, chances are the person on the other end of the phone could care less. Your LBS does care and wants you to continue to ride.

By supporting your LBS, you are not only helping a small business grow, but you are helping our sport.

Cycling / Life Update

It's been a while since I've written anything. It has been a whirlwind couple of months. I'll do my best to try to catch you up.

When we last left our hero, he was feeling his age on the bike. Since then, he has moved to Flagstaff, gotten a mountain bike (again), and fallen back in love with riding the trails. I told you; whirlwind.

Let's start with the move. There are 2 schools in the state of Arizona that use a teaching style that suits my son best. One is in Phoenix, the other in Flagstaff. They are Waldorf schools which, in a nutshell, focus on the child's brain development rather than test scores. We had been on waiting lists for both schools for the better part of the year (longer for the Phoenix school). We bout some property right next to some of our best friends over the summer in Flagstaff with the thought of building a home and eventually moving up. During the kids' fall break (mid October), the school in Flagstaff called with news of openings for both kids! This was certainly a sign that we needed to be at this school. So, in 2 short weeks, we packed up the house, rented a couple trucks, and headed north. The kids love their new school and have already made friends. In fact, Matthew's "girlfriend" as he calls her, is in his class and will be our neighbor once we build our home onthe our property. We got up to Flagstaff just in time for the first snow of the season too. I wasn't sure how this crew would do in the snow & cold, but they're handling it well! We are learning to dress in layers and have enjoyed the benefits of heated seats in the van (never really needed them before).

Anytime one moves, he discovers that he has a lot of unused "stuff". We were no different. Many yard sales were had and before the move, most of the big stuff was sold. However, there was still lots of "other stuff". Many moons ago, I took guitar lessons. Enjoyed trying to play along with my brother (who is pretty good) when we lived closer. I sold my electric guitar a few years ago as it was sitting in the the closet and not getting played. Hardly fair to the guitar. My acoustic has sat for years on it's stand in the corner ready to be played at any time. I think over the 7 years we lived in Gilbert, I played for maybe 2 hours total. Knowing that buying another bike was out of the question, I decided to trade the guitar for a mountain bike on Craigslist. I found a guy who was willing to trade trade straight up. The bike is decent. Needs some loving, but for not having to shell out any cash - perfect. I immediately swapped out the saddle. It had one of those HUGE seats that could fit a couple kids at once. After my first little ride, I need tobe change out the pedals to clipless ones, get a computer, some lights, and possibly a mud fender for the rear. Definitely need to get a tool bag for under the seat and change the chain. The bike was stored outside and the non-aluminum parts are starting to rust. Overall, the bike isn't bad. It's a GT mountain bike with Rock Shox on the front. I'm not used to suspension so it may take some getting used to.

The other day I decided to take the new MTB out on the trail. Flagstaff has an "urban trail" system (FUTS), which is scheduled to be 130 miles of trails around the area. These trails are either paved or hard aggregate and about 10 feet wide. Like any good rural area, there are plenty of hiking/MTB trails that branch off of the main trail. So the number of places to ride the new MTB are limitless! Besides all the great trails, Flagstaff is a college town and cycling is a very common mode of transportation. Back to my ride. I ventured out to the FUTS right near our current house. It felt really good to ride on dirt again! The first part of the the trail I took was slightly downhill so I was cruising pretty good. It gave me a good opportunity to get a feel for the bike and how it handled. I found a nice little single track branch that had some good climbing. Luckily, the bike has a triple chain ring, because I needed the little gears. I got to the top of my first climb and was dying. My lungs were burning and it was everything I could do to catch my breath. I quickly realized "this is why athletes train at altitude". I only rode about 3 miles, but the terrain and altitude made it a great ride! I can't wait for my next ride to explore more of these awesome trails!