A Trip to Bob's Bike Shop

Yesterday I rode my bike up to Port Townsend to check out my friend Bob Bryant's bike shop. Bob and I go way back. In the 1990s a broken collarbone brought me into the fascinating world of recumbent bicycles and I got to ride a number of very interesting bikes and meet a wide range of very interesting people. Bob and I immediately hit it off and I wound up writing a series of articles for his magazine, Recumbent Cyclist News. A few of these old articles still live on the web, including this portrait of Joe and the Joetator and this whimsical look at a somewhat different bicycle world.

These days Bob runs an amazingly efficient little shop in Port Townsend that specializes in comfortable and simple transportation bikes.  Operating out of a tiny shed that shares a courtyard with Coasties Custom Wheelbuilding, Bob is having a great time getting Port Townsend rolling on a mix of refurbished older bikes and inexpensive new cruisers. I picked a great sunny day to ride up and before Bob opened the shop for the day he bought me a coffee and scone at a nearby coffee shop while we solved the pressing problems of the word.

My old randonneuring pal Jon Muellner (seen laughing maniacally in the summer sunshine) met up with us at the coffee shop and later insisted on buying me lunch. Over lunch Jon and I continued the work of solving the pressing problems of the world. We made some progress.

It was a great day to be chatting with friends and I had great weather for the ride up and back to Port Townsend. As a final bonus, on the ride back south, I found this Craftsman 1/4" ratcheting wrench on the roadside.

Some days are just wonderful. Good friends, good food, good conversation, good riding, and good fortune. Yesterday was one of the days when it was very, very easy to keep 'em rolling.

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA