Ramblings on Bike Culture, Bike Shops, and Self-sufficiency

We are driving back home and stopped in Laramire, WY to stretch our legs and have lunch.  We wandered around to the thrift store, two bookstores, a café and a bike shop.  Although we are not riding for the next few days, we couldn’t resist peeking into the local bike shop.  We even bought some of the lube that we like.  The shop seemed cool but much for focused on mountain biking than road cycling.  In fact, we talked to a woman who was commuting to the café who said that mountain biking and cyclocross were awesome in the area, but that road cycling was “lame.”  So much for riding there!

We did notice that the most of the bikes outside the shop were not locked.  And there was a sign there on the rack that said, “We still hang bicycle thieves in Wyoming.”  The shop guy gave us a sticker with the same saying.  I am not sure it would deter Boston bicycle thieves even if it were true. 

It’s been interesting to experience the local bike culture or lack thereof in different places across the United States.  Some notable places where the bicycle infrastructure was apparent: Missoula, MT; Portland, OR; Folsom, CA; and a small town Iowa with a bike lane running through it (unfortunately I cannot remember its name).  There have been other places along the way that support touring cyclists with accommodations such as city campgrounds and pavilions, but that is different than places with a bicycle infrastructure.  Most of the places with bike paths and lanes also have a lot of cyclists – which makes sense.

Actually, bike shops reflect a lot about the bike culture of a place.  We have been in many shops                    during our trip across.  Sometimes we were happily surprised, like we were in Herkimer, NY where Leigh who worked in a small local shop fixed my wheel perfectly.   Other shops were more disappointing.  The shop in Missoula was big and had lots of quality merchandise, but the mechanic was snotty and not very communicative, and the work was subpar.  There were stretches of the trip where there were no bike shops as all, or the occasional one would be a saw and bike shop.  (Yes, the kind of saws that cut stuff.)  Sometimes we were in shops that had only mountain bikes, or mostly commuter bikes.  We had David’s wheel trued at a shop that didn’t carry chamois cream.  Clearly, they didn’t have many customers who were road riders (and they didn’t do a great job on the wheel either).

Now, I will admit we are quite discerning customers when it comes to bike shops and mechanics.  We know a lot about bikes and bike mechanics and don’t take kindly to those who try to put one over on us.  We are hard to please in this department, and don’t even have a shop we love at home.  We do most of the work on our bikes ourselves which means we save money, but more importantly we do it right.  Furthermore, I love working on my bike.  It is extremely satisfying to fix and maintain my bicycles.  It is an area in which I have learned a lot over the years and there is still more to learn. I feel it is empowering as a woman to do my own mechanics, and I also enjoy teaching other women to take care of their bicycles. My experience is that many bike mechanics treat customers, especially women customers as if they are stupid.  My mission is to give knowledge about the bike to the women I teach, after all knowledge is power.