Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Closing Time at Joe's


Joe's Bike Shop is a tiny place. A brick and stucco cottage about the size of a two-car garage. Therefore, about half of the inventory and all of the repairs get trundled outside and into racks every morning. If it rains they get hauled back in (most of the time) and at the end of the day they get stacked, like Lincoln Logs back in the shop.

This is a nice time to be at Joe's. Sitting out front, drinking a coffee and ruminating on rides taken, not taken, or rides to come. The sun dips low and glaring off of Lake Ella, and the after work jogging set begin their laps.

Joe does the stacking, and anyone else still hanging around does the hauling.

Cruisers, Hybrids, Mountain Bikes, Three-Wheelers, BMX, and Freestyle, for once all bikes are equal, because they all have to come in for the night.

-Juancho

11 comments:

hitops said...
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hitops said...

Sounds idyllic. Maybe Sasquatch and I will drop by for a spell on the porch after our road ride Saturday. I owe Joe a few dollars for some pre-Felasco work. I can't recall; is there separate seating on the porch for road and mountain bikers? Would be if Juancho were the social director.

sasquatch said...

O.K., enough of this road / mountain thing. Can't we all just get along?

Pete (Joe's mechanic) is arguably the James Dean of cycling in these parts, and he's got room in his heart for the road and the dirt.

As I've said many times, what is a road but an extremely firm (and highly convenient) path? If you had bothered to read my book, "It's Not About The Bike," there'd be no tripping about this whatsoever.

I personally think every cyclist needs a mountain bike AND a road bike. They're different tools for different terrain, and each experience enhances the other.

As for road and mountain bike "culture," Sasquatch culture trumps all that. It's gonna be Molly Ringwald socks and helmet forgetting and haphazard maintenance due to pure, stubborn ignorance. It's gonna be undergeared, underhydrated, underfed, with big miles, regardless of how the waterbugs OR the Rhino beetles snort, scoff, and shake their helmeted heads.

Juancho said...

I don't know man. They just don't know no better. Maybe it's an old guy thing?

libbyllama said...

bushyhead's kinda cranky...has he not had his ride yet today?

Juancho said...

Who is Libblyllama? WHO IS LIBBYLLAMA? Who ISN'T Libby llama, that's the real question. And HT- The shop porch is a neutral zone, like when the Allied/Axis soldiers sang carols on Christmas Eve and traded chocolates, before they resumed trading bullets.

sasquatch said...

I cast my pearls before dirty, stinkin swine.

Juancho said...

Suuuuueeeey! Oink! Oink!

Sascha said...

Hey! You can't get ride of the roadies! Then there won't be any chicks hanging around any more. Cuz we all ride road bikes. I mean, I have a pink Surly 1x1 mountain bike, but it's the road bike that gets the most consistant action.

Juancho said...

calm thyself, nobody is going anywhere!

Juancho said...

ok, here goes nothing..check back in 5,4,3,2...