Every Thursday, 6:30pm, from the shop door. Slow enough to talk, short enough to be home for dinner. Lights on by the halfway point, that is rather the idea.
Why we started it
Most of the people who come into the shop on Andrews Road are not cyclists. They are nurses, teachers and accountants who started riding to work and have questions nobody else will answer without making them feel slow. Which roads are fine in the dark? Is that noise my brakes? Do I really need to be in the middle of the lane there?
Those questions are easier to answer on a bike than over a counter. So once a week we ride together. Eighteen minutes at a talking pace, then coffee. Nobody gets dropped, because nobody is trying to go fast.
Who comes
New riders, mostly, and the people who used to be new riders and kept coming back. Some weeks it is a handful, some weeks a crowd. Bring the bike you have. It does not need to be good, it needs to have air in the tires and brakes that work. If you are not sure it does, come a few minutes early and we will look it over.
Before the ride:
- Lights. Front and rear, charged. Light checks at the counter are free, Thursday or any other day.
- A lock. Coffee means leaving the bike outside for twenty minutes.
- A layer. It is warmer at 6:30pm than it will be at 8.
No helmet yet? Come in and try one on. We keep the Helmet in every color we make.
Where the kit gets tested
The Thursday ride is also where our kit earns its place. Every piece spends a winter on the commutes of the people behind our counter before it goes on sale. If it leaks, rattles or gives up on the Thursday ride, it does not make the shelf.
Now and then the ride starts with a winter kit fitting at the counter. Ask in the shop for the next date, or read how the shop began.
Then come along. It is the easiest ride of your week.
