My Local Bike Shop

Day 20 - 3/3/09

Have you ever felt a feeling of completeness? Something felt when you find your one true love, a really good friend, your perfect house. A sense of everything is right in the world. Well I experienced that feeling when I stepped into Harris Cyclery and had an hour and a half talk with A.J. I have found my local bike shop! Harris Cyclery (1353 Washington St. (Route 16) West Newton, MA 02465)

My trip to the store was not going to be a very long one, it was about 5 miles away but what I didn’t realize was the route that I chose was strait up a lovely little hill called Mt. Ida. The roads went from fairly flat to 50-degree incline (or something like that). Needless to say I was huffing and puffing (this time there was no glue ☺). I reached the top of the hill and realized that I could have easily just took the next road over and it would have taken me conveniently around this bump in my trip…oh well, what goes up must come down, and I flew down the other side of Mt. Ida like it was my job.

Arriving at Harris Cyclery was nice. I walked in and the shop was covered with bikes… they all looked beautiful and I wanted to ride them all. The bikes went from reclining bikes that you lay down on and the pedals are in front of you to high performance race bikes to Bike Fridays. There were two people in the back working on bikes and there was one guy at the register. Not 30 seconds into my exploring the shop I hear a voice “hey man, can I help you out” (not exact quote, I hope he wont sew). It was my soon to be bike mentor A.J. (that’s right A.J. our relationship has jump to the next level… intimidated yet?) I told him that I have this crazy idea where I plan on getting on a bike and peddling that machine 3,700 miles to San Diego for 2 months and I need as much information as I can get. After him telling me that I am some kind of crazy (thank you) he proceeds to tell me all about bicycles. From the frame building to the handlebars to the shorts that you need to wear but don’t want to be caught in at a bar. He showed me the shops tour bikes that were in my budget. They were the Jamis Aurora Touring bike and the Surly Long Haul Trucker. There were others that he showed me, such as the Bike Friday (the Folding Bikes) and the Waterford but those were either not my taste or way out of my price range (although I really do want a Bike Friday when I am able to afford another bike). I took notes on everything he said and became more and more excited with every new bit of information I received. I was a student again and this class is my favorite. A.J. and I exchanged information and Not only am I going to be buying a bike from this place but A.J. suggested that I could get some training on bike maintenance from him also…this was exactly what I wanted.

After my stay at the bike shop I left in a daze and a Boston Bike map (which shows all the routes that are safe for bikers) my mind was full of information and I was re energized about my trip. I started biking back to my place (the not so hilly way) and decided to stop at this wonderful pizza shop called SWEET TOMATOES (1279 Washington St. W. Newton, MA 0465). It is a great little place on the corner of a block. It was a clean modern hangout with great pizza ranging from traditional to a white three cheese pizza (which was fantastic). I got my two slices and took my time to study my new map and see what adventures await me. I was complete. My stomach was being filled, I have taken another step in my bike adventure and the day was beautiful. I wouldn’t say that I could die now but my mind was clear and everything was right with the world (and still is).

Note about Pictures. they are coming I have lost my cord to connect my camera to my computer...so they are coming.

TOTAL DISTANCE FOR DAY (TDD) : 12 miles
TOTAL TIME FOR THE DAY (TTD) : 90 min

TOTAL TIME TRAINING: 20 hrs 50 min
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED: 146.58 Miles