Your Pedal Bicyclical – And now: Autumn

Hello!

I cannot believe that we’re staring October in the face. Wow.

Cool bikes are coming in. Of special note are some very nice cyclocross and gravel road bikes. Delicious.

We have some sweet long-sleeve shirts that you could stylishly wear while:

– Riding

– Drinking a beer

– Being cool

Quantities are limited. Limited to what? To what we have. Dive in, and be prepared to ward off the paparazzi.

Winter gear? Heck yes! We have tights and jackets and warmers and gloves and hats and STUFF TO KEEP YOU WARM. Do you want to be warm? Yes? Let’s talk.

Important stuff is going on. I’m specifically speaking of the Stadium Drive and Michigan Avenue Corridor Study If you, like me, long for a more bike friendly Kalamazoo, it’s happening. I very much encourage you to use the tool here and attend the meetings and make of the city what you will. You. We need *you* to make this happen.

While visiting a friend this summer I shared how impressed I was by bike friendly Missoula. He said, “You can’t believe how hard it was. People were sure that road diets would ruin the city center and stop traffic forever. Yeah, it looks fantastic now, but it was an ordeal.” To this I would tell my fellow Kalamazooters: many hands make light work. Please contribute what you can to this very worthy effort.

I’d also remind everyone that change is difficult. Though it may seem intuitive to those of us who often ride, please be kind to your friends and neighbors who might have difficulty understanding the value of a bike friendly community.

All good things must end, and so it is with the Thursday evening Pedal ride. The sun just sets too darn early these days. Thanks for a fantastic run this summer. I can’t wait for next year.

There are two (2) local cyclocross races this fall:

– October 12th at lovely Kindleberger park in Parchment

– November 16th at Markin Glen

We’ll have practice at noon the Saturday before each event at the race site. Cyclocross is fun. Please come enjoy!

More CX here and here!

The Colorburst in Lowell is this Saturday, and has always looked appealing.

Since the Grand Rapids XTERRA was cancelled (Boo! Hiss!), I guess we’ll all race CX at Manhattan Park and maybe dine as Rose’s after. This is always a good plan.

Iceman registrations are trading hands like hotcakes. Want to race? We can maybe hook you up with someone who can’t go. Want to get rid of your entry? Perhaps we can help. Shoot us an email or call.

Remember when you were younger, maybe eight, and you looked forward to your birthday SO MUCH. The anticipation was incredible. Maybe you knew exactly what you wanted or maybe you didn’t, but were excited by the prospect of being one year older. Then it was your birthday!

And then it was the day after your birthday.

I’m having trouble with the end of Best Summer Ever. I’ve used the term over the past few months, and I’ve believed it. It hasn’t been too hot. It hasn’t been too cold — not too much rain, not too dry. Yes, it’s been a good year at Pedal, but I write of something greater. Our clientele has been so uniformly happy. Rides I attended were full of camaraderie and joy. It’s been so fantastic that I want to give everybody a loud, stinging high-five… and now it’s fall.

Don’t get me wrong. I love autumn in Michigan with brisk weather and grape smells and beautiful trees and cyclocross and apples, but what a marvelous summer.

I went to a wedding this past weekend, a wedding of two people that I love enormously. One of them, a highly educated special ed teacher, told me about the drills she did with her students to train them to better fit into larger society. The drill topics distilled down to four things: curiosity, grit, zest and gratitude. On the cold, dark winter morning when she shared this with me, I thought, “Holy heck. Those are the exact things I want from my employees. Those are the exact things I want to demonstrate to our customers.”

Every day at Pedal we wonder how things work. We solve problems. Sometimes we solve difficult or unusual problems that take a whole lot longer than we think they should. Sometimes there are high fives. Sometimes there is harsh language. Do you care? I don’t know that you do, or that you should.

The thing I really, sincerely want to express in the Bicyclical is gratitude. I thank you for your business. I thank you for your consideration. I thank you for making Pedal part of your life.

I thank you for Best Summer Ever.

Sincerely,

Tim