Featured Sponsor - NorCal Bike Sport & The Bike Peddler
Featured Sponsor - NorCal Bike Sport & The Bike Peddler
Nor Cal Bike Sport & The Bike Peddler has been our title sponsor since the inception of Nor Cal Velo when it was a local co-ed racing team. We are proud to feature our title sponsor in this interview with Jim “Big Ring” Keene.
Official job title:
GM of marketing, community outreach, warranties and occasional guff giver. Jim has been in the bike retail business for over 25 years.
Spirit Animal:
“Ned the Wonder Whippet”, (14 yrs) also known as “Rotten Stinkin’ Whippet” and when he gets into the trash… “Rat Bastard Jackal”.
What was your first bike?
“My first bike was a purple Schwinn Stingray with top tube shifters. I was 5 years old and had just gotten a pair of Sunday leather shoes. I hated those shoes! I didn’t know to use the brakes on my bike, so I used my shoes as the brakes. This is how I learned to ride a bike. I got spanked for ruining my Sunday shoes but at the tender age of 5 I knew that it was well worth it. I learned to ride a bike and I got rid of those awful shoes.”
Green couch moment:
“I am the youngest of 9 children, 7 brothers and 2 sisters. I never had a shiny new bike; they were always hand-me-downs left over from my siblings. Here, today I am surrounded by shiny new bikes.”
Passion:
“Six, seven years ago I realized that if the bike industry was to survive we needed to change its main focus. Ninety-five percent of sales come from recreational riding and racing. This is all well and good but I wanted to see more people using their bikes for commuting and transportation. When I was traveling in Europe I was amazed at the number of crappy looking bikes that were being utilized on a daily basis as a tool. Here we have these amazing bikes that are used occasionally on the weekends.
“In France professional cyclists are revered as sports stars. They are seen as sources of entertainment. When they fall from grace into scandal it is viewed as contrite. Here, it’s all backwards. You have weekend warriors using their bikes the most and we have these huge standards for professional cyclists. When they fall into scandal we crucify them. I wanted to encourage people in the community to start using the bikes as they do in other parts of the world as a mode of transportation. Through our efforts with community outreach and bike rodeos we’ve been able to that. We support local races and rides always in conjunction with the Sonoma County Bike Coalition (SCBC) and Sonoma County Trails Council (SCTC).”
Pride:
“I am extremely proud of our involvement with Taylor Maid Farms and Thomas Ritchey’s project; Africa Bikes. We raised $5000 to pay for the set up of a sister shop in Rwanda, manned it and supplied it with parts. The bikes there allow coffee bean workers to use the bikes as a tool. They are able to get their beans to market three times faster with the use of a bike. Taylor Maid Farms donated product to sell and raffle and was very supportive. They came to local race events and helped raise funds for the project. I love the relationship they have with their coffee co-operatives and what Fair Trade stands for. It was exciting to team up with them and be advocates for a project on the other side of the world. I am also really excited that we’ll be selling their coffee in our store soon!”
Gratitude:
“I feel very fortunate to have landed in Sonoma County. I’ve been all over and lived in many different places and we have some of the best cycling terrain, food and people in the world right here in Sonoma County. It’s a little slice of heaven on earth. Most days I can’t get wait to get to work. I love what I do.
“I feel very fortunate to have landed in Sonoma County. I’ve been all over and lived in many different places and we have some of the best cycling terrain, food and people in the world right here in Sonoma County. It’s a little slice of heaven on earth. Most days I can’t get wait to get to work. I love what I do.
“On the sponsorship front; I have never had a better experience with a team than I have had with the Nor Cal Velo Women’s racing team. I couldn’t be happier! They are great athletes and a wonderful bunch of public stewards. I am honored to be a sponsor.”
How have gas prices changed business?
“Five years ago I said that it would take $4.00 a gallon for people to change their ways. I was off by fifty cents. I’ve weathered three recessions and the bike industry was reeling from this one. Business has really gone up the last two months. I can’t keep commuter bikes and cruisers on the floor. It’s not a bad dilemma; people don’t want to participate any more. They want a bike. I agree with Chris Culver (SCBC) in that a certain percent of these people will become die hard bike commuters rather than just recreational bike users and that’s really exciting! My son Austin and I do 95% of our travels by bike and trailer trips.”
How many bikes have you had?
“I was thinking about how many I had and I was making a list, 38, and in doing so I started to remember parts of my life that I had forgotten. Things started to come back to me that I hadn’t thought about for a while. I need to get 4 more so I can say I’ve had one for every year of my life.”
What is your favorite bike?
“It’s a 1980’s Specialized Allez road bike that I converted to a fixed gear with Bill Schum. I have better bikes that have greater technical prowess and lighter weight but nothing compares to a bike built with Bill. He changed my life and he was the heart and soul of this town. When I first started at Dave’s Bike Sport I was having a hard time. Bill knew that something was up and he said, “Whatever it is, you’re going to do just fine here.” That short sentence kept me hanging on and now I’m a partner in the business.”
Future:
“Do you want to know what bike I’m really excited about? Kona’s Africa 2.0. For every two of these bikes that we order from Kona, they will take a bike and put it into a shipping crate and send it to Africa. These bikes will be used by health care workers there, doctors and nurses will use them for traveling to and from patients. They can help five times more patients with the use of a bike. If you’re not as excited about the advocacy portion of this bike, you could always build a great wicked witch of the west Halloween costume out of it. It has a bike rack and a basket and Halloween colors - all you need is a dog to be Toto.
-By Jen Scott
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