Your Pedal Bicyclical

Hello, and happy November,

I don’t want to get anyone in trouble or incite unrest, but you really ought to talk to your employer about taking tomorrow afternoon off to ride at Custer. SWMMBA has done a marvelous job with the trails recently and the weather — holy smokes! I worked out a deal with my boss this afternoon and had a marvelous ride during which both body and mind were, well, straightened out. I recommend the experience highly.

There is a LOT going on around the shop.
We’re aware that sometimes you have to experience something in its true environment before you know if it’ll work for you, so we’re stocking up on demo mountain bikes. We have several from both Kona and Trek. Thinking about a new mountain bike? Come see us.

A few years ago, electric bikes were a total gong show: technology was all over the place, there was no commonality, legislation didn’t exist, and a lot of the stuff was just not that good. Pedal sat on the sidelines, unwilling to commit to a line of products in such incredible flux. This fall Trek came out with a line of electric assist bikes that look really appealing, and we’re going to get serious about this stuff. Maybe you’d like to get to work without sweating too much. Maybe you need a little boost on the hills. Whatever your need, we received several in Portage on Friday and will have ‘em assembled and ready to go shortly.

We’re very much trying to figure out how we can cut down on the repair backlog during the summer. Some of this means hiring more salespeople so we put less stress on the service department. Some of this means becoming more efficient. Some means asking our customers to schedule their service work during off-peak times. Like, for instance, now.

• If your bike is less than a year old and you’d like us to make adjustments, we’d love to do it now.
• If you’d like a major service for your bike, now is the time. Overhauls are half-priced ($90) in both shops from November 1st through January 31st. Be ready to hit the road when Spring rolls around!

Just last week we endured a software conversion that put both stores on the same inventory and sales software. We’re still reeling a bit, but the future looks quite bright. There will be, alas, some loss of historical data which we believe will be offset by greater intercommunication between the two stores.

Continuing the Breakaway tradition, our Romence location carries top-shelf fitness equipment. If you’d rather use a treadmill, an elliptical or a stationary bike in the comfort of your own home, we can help. We have great equipment, free delivery and a trained, qualified service staff.

Concerned about the Holiday Five? You know what I’m talking about: that extra snugness in the waistline from seconds on the stuffing. Please join us for the Gravel Gobbler on Saturday November 28th at 10:00am in the parking lot at Texas Corners Park. We’ll have a longer (30ish) and a shorter (considerably less than 30ish) route consisting of pavement and dirt roads. It’s a ride, not a race. Well, technically it’s a fundraiser for the Markin Glen mountain bike trail proejct. Look for the donation can! Afterward we plan to take advantage of the nearby brewery and eateries for socialization.

Schedule of Pedal Winter Events:
* Downtown Spinning – Signup is November 10th, beginning at 10:00. Space is limited to the first 45 people. It’ll be $150 bucks, which includes spinning plus one (1) overhaul.
* Saturday Yoga – Starting in December (December 5th, to be exact) we’ll have drop-in yoga at the Portage location with a bona-fide yoga instructor. Bring a yoga mat and your flexibility! Cost is $7/visit or you can get a five-visit punch card for $30. Proceeds go to charity. Which charity? Yoga attendees vote on it each month. Yoga starts promptly at 10:00am.
* Fat Wednesday – Jason Lechner (Pedal South Sales Manager and Fast Dude) is still ruminating about the ultimate configuration of this whole thing, but we’re gonna do *something* on Wednesday evenings in the winter. You’ll need a bike (probably a fat bike once the snow flies), a powerful headlight and some warm clothes. We’ll fire this up on December 2nd.

Giving Thanks
I love Thanksgiving, getting together with family and friends for a few hours and thinking about how good we have it. My family groans when I ask everyone around the table to name something for which they are thankful, but they generally play along.

2015 has been a wild ride for Pedal. We have a new location, new business partners, new customers, new software… a long list of new things. We could not have weathered this amount of change without a great staff. A wise man told me that what you need is something to do and good people with which to do it. I am lucky to work with good people and grateful for the opportunity.

Thank YOU, Pedal customer. You’re the reason we’re here. Please let me know if there’s something we can do, or perhaps do better.

Sincerely,
Tim