Gville Shops Help Build Our Cycling Empire
During a recent FB discussion on the Gainesville Cycling Club group, we talked about shopping at the new bicycle mega-store in a neighboring city, which I equate to shopping on-line. It occurred to me to write a short piece about how local bike shops of Gainesville’s Past and Present have helped make our city one of the great cycling meccas in the country. What I would argue is that local bike shops perform many of the functions of community shops, the public commons (places to gather and play), and even “government without government.” Disclaimer, I work at a local bike shop. All these shops are locally owned and operated.
Local Trail System
No, Virginia, those 70 miles of “in-town” trails did not build themselves. They are enjoyed by local elected officials, police officers, teachers, kids, families, butterfly gazers, and clever commuters. Most of the people who regularly groom and design these recreational and commuter thruway off-road gems own, work for, ride for, or ride with our local shops. They are supported by an array of bike shop “thank yous” including sponsorship, heavy discounts, or just free adult beverages. You will rarely hear about their identity or their work. They tend to be rugged individualist types who shun club membership and public honors. Next time you’re trying out that new XT derailleur you bought online at “Cabana Beach” or “Alligator Alley”, give this some pause.
Advocacy
Once upon a time it was only a handful of Gainesville Cycling Club activists, acting through the then activist and un-muzzled Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board, who kept the fires of advocacy burning. Not true anymore. Shops across town in some way support advocacy. Some are outspoken and regular attendees at City and County meetings, firebrands even (I’m more of a functionary than a firebrand, and thank God for them). Many shops also regularly participate, even take charge of, large charity, safety, teaching, and advocacy events. Free flat clinics and repair courses, helmet giveaways, date nights, night rides, Alley Katz, and downtown gatherings (the beginning, I hope, of ciclovias in Gainesville).
Fitness and Recreation
We now have multiple disciplines of cycling, some even whole series of events, sponsored by local shops. Some give prizes, some actually make the events happen. Shops get little in return for this but good will, and the riders know it. Add up the gas money you save by not driving to Tallahassee to pay $25 to ride for an hour and a half. And by the way, take a look at all the shop jerseys (just about every shop has one) on your group rides. Those jerseys represent tens of thousands of dollars worth of discounts, free samples, free or discounted service, and the like. Many of us would not be able to ride without these hook-ups, and the shops know it. They live to ride, and they work to help us ride as well.
Team sponsorship is only the most visible form of local shop support, but it makes a lot of us able to ride at all. I tried to get everyone, sorry--JT.
Helping Hands to Our Neighbors
The wage working staff at Big Box Stores, and certainly not the internet, usually don’t have the privilege of hitting the discount button, making a decision about a special needs case, giving free service and discounted parts to the neighborhood work release program, or letting a known customer or neighbor wait until payday to pony up, or help a travelling family out with some bike issues that threaten to ruin their vacation, or act as a go-between with a car driver and a wrecked bicycle. Tens of thousands of dollars a year are given away in Gainesville with an open hand and happy heart to customers with special needs, or who have a personal relationship with their local shop. To many local shops, these folk are not bums or public nuisances to be kicked out of the store--they are brothers and sisters of the wheel. And its not just working poor--remember the last time you cracked a part during race season and your NBS (Neighborhood Bike Shop) insisted on fixing it on the spot, with a part in stock, without accepting payment until payday rolled around? Yeah, Internet go do that.
James Thompson is the Advocacy Director for the Gainesville Cycling Club, and also, of course, a salesperson and bike fitter at Gator Cycle. He is proud that Gator Cycle, like so many Gainesville shops, supports advocacy, community, and charity.