Your Pumpkin Spice Bicyclical

November 1, 2019 | Tim Krone | Newsletter

Hello, and happy All Saints Day,Good speed and fortune to the hearty souls racing Iceman in uncertain weather tomorrow.

Go go go!It’s back! The Pedal Winter Service Special, now through the end of January. It’s a thorough, get-your-bike-ready-for-next-season service including a drivetrain cleaning for the low, low price of $87. If you want your bearings overhauled, we’ll do that for an additional $50 (a $75 value). Questions? Give us a holler or shoot me an email. 

Let’s spin! Our tradition of indoor spinning continues this year. We’ll have a coach, workouts, zesty music, esprit de corps (or is it Stockholm Syndrome?) and optional refreshments at the corner watering hole. You need a trainer, a bicycle, iron will (not really) and $175US. In exchange you get a solid three months of training and a Winter Service for the bicycle of your choice. Space is large but limited. Signup starts at 11:00 this Tuesday, November 5th at the Downtown shop. You can do it in person at 611 W. Michigan Avenue or via your telecommunications device at 269-567-3325. Operators will be standing by.

Perhaps you’ve become addicted to Zwift. Let’s say that you’d like to ride with some of your IRL friends in Wattopia. Pedal has some Zwifters, and they’re setting up group rides for the winter.

  • Ryan will ride on Mondays at 6:00pm
  • J’Son will ride on Wednesdays at 7:30pm
  • Smooth Matt will ride on Saturday morning at 7:30a

How do you do this? Follow the ride leader(s) of your choice, and they’ll invite you for a ride of approximately one hour each week. We workshopped this last spring, and it’s great. Yes, it might take a little bit of getting used to, but it’s good. Your ride leaders are pictured below. Oh! Need a smart trainer? We can help with that.

It’s become something of a tradition. We’ll be closed on Black Friday and will do our Turkey Burner Ride instead. Meet us at Texas Drive Park for an 11:00am mixed-surface ride (that means, bring something you’d ride on a dirt road). We’ll have routes of 34 and 22 miles. ALL ARE WELCOME! Afterwards we’ll enjoy a traditional post-Thanksgiving feast of salad and water (not really) at Zeb’s just down the road. (Egregious aside: I recently learned how to load routes on my GPS bike computer so I don’t have to reference a piece of paper deteriorating in my pocket every time I come to an intersection. What was I waiting for? This technology is fantastic!) Here are routes for the Long and Short routes. I hope we’ll see you there.

Speaking of holiday shopping, we’ve all been there: you want to show your special person that they occupy the really prime real estate in your heart — yet you don’t want to spend a pile of money. Pedal to the rescue! We’ve collected a big ol’ bunch of super-sweet custom-designed Pedal T shirts and put one in a hand-stamped Pedal bag along with… something else. We’ll sell you this bag o’ awesome for five bucks plus tax. That’s right: $5.30 gets you a sweet shirt, a custom paper bag suitable for re- or upcycling AND… something else. What if your sweetie doesn’t like it? Too bad! Your love is pure, but chance does indeed play a role in the shirt and… something else. Also true: if you’d rather, we’ll help you pick out the perfect bike for your sweet thing. And anything in between. Bags o’ Awesome will be ready for purchase starting Monday, November 4th.

Got a few minutes to spare? If you haven’t yet, please consider taking the Places for Bikes Community Survey. It’s good stuff that can help towns like ours figure out where to direct their resouces to make cycling better.

It’s still a few weeks off, but this is the last Bicyclical before Thanksgiving, and I want to say that Pedal is grateful. We’re happy to be in Kalamazoo and Portage. We’re happy to serve you. We’re lucky to know you. Thank you, sincerely, for choosing us. Happy Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,
Tim