“I thought of that while riding my bike”
Albert Einstein (on the theory of relativity)
Dear friends,
Last week I shared with you some Reckless reflections on the business that I started 30 years ago this season. Well here’s part II of the post where I get to share a bit more about what we’re doing this year to mark the occasion.
One of the great things about being a bike store, and even better, about being a bike store in Vancouver, is the strength of the community and all the connections and interconnections the sport brings out. I am blessed to have a had a front row seat to this over the last 30 years meeting so many fascinating people with different experiences and from different walks of life.
As we reflected on what the milestone means to us, we kept coming back to this diverse community and the many organizations and events through the summer that bring us all together. Joining forces with the good people HUB we’re pleased to be coming aboard as members of the organization and taking the mantle of “Official Bike Store Sponsor” of their annual Bike the Night Ride July 3rd. Amoung many exciting activities around the ride we’ll be pulling together a crack team of mechanics to serve riders from head to tail of the path and providing lots of giveaways along the way.
Leading up to Bike the Night, HUB will be hosting two ever popular events including Bike to Work week May 30th to June 5th (where we’ll have two free tune up and repair tents) and Bike to Shop day August 13th, both tons of fun and fantastic ways to celebrate and build the biking community.
In July, we’ll be jumping aboard the Velopalooza train as a sponsor, and though the details are still being worked out, we’re looking forward to being out in full force and helping people get the most out of the week long set of rides and the sites and sounds of the city.
Other initiatives including the Cargo Bike Championship and a whole roster of non-bike, outdoor-connected events are also on the roster. Though I can’t list them all here, my next little announcement will I hope address that.
As mentioned and as a part of our 30th anniversary, we’re pleased to announce the arrival of the Reckless Bike Stores blog. In the coming weeks months, and, I hope, years, we’ll be adding our “two spokes” to the Vancouver bike scene with regular articles from me and some of the Reckless staff. Melody Chan, store manager, eBike aficionado and bike-commuting mom will be providing her perspective on the daily commute with a focus on the best paths, products and safety tips for family rides and commutes. On the service side our own head mechanic, Jason St-Germain will head up the bike maintenance and repair corner of the blog with lots of regular tips, tricks and how tos for any of you DIYers out there.
For my own part, I’ll be taking my posts in just about every direction I roll myself. I have the good fortune of having an exceptionally talented team at Reckless which affords me some time to travel, and attend bike conferences and learn more about the industry and the business and humble vehicle we all love. I’ll be drawing on some larger themes through the and providing some of my own perspective on where Vancouver and other Canadian cities are going with alternative transport (especially the self-propelled, two wheeled kind), and what all this infrastructure investment may mean for our city.
Invite you to subscribe to the blog here, and if you have the time and inclination tune in to our expanding social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and yes, even LinkedIn – what better place to meet new biking commuters?
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at dragan@rektek.com or come in to the store and say hello! We’d love to chat with you.
My best regards, and best wishes for a lovely biking season,
Paul Dragan, AKA “The Big Wheel”
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