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Our Stories
Quick links, within this page:
Steve
My love affair with the bicycle first became obvious when my tricycle was
taken away from me at age 7 for freewheeling through the stop sign at the
bottom of a hill. I'm not sure I've ever recovered from that loss. Since that
traumatic event I've never been without a bike. My first adult bike was a
metallic green Apollo ten-speed I bought as a teenager, which I promptly
destroyed in a head-on collision with a concrete drainage block. That event
and others like it meant that the only way I could afford to keep a bike was to
do my own repairs.
Through school and Uni I kept riding and maintaining my own bikes. I
continued on even after I began earning enough to afford a car. I continued
even after moving to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where it gets as cold as -38
Celsius and winter lasts 8 months. Claire and I met because of our interest in
bicycles and we had bike races at our wedding.
Over the years I've explained this bicycle addiction in many ways: It's cheap.
It's good for me. It's good for the environment. I like to eat cake (perhaps the
most valid reason).
In the end it's all of these things and something more. Something about
getting around purely under one's own power is immensely satisfying and
after almost 30 years on a bike I still love it.
That love led to a part time jobs building and repairing bikes for a bike share
program (www.peoplespedal.org)
and to a full time job teaching folks how to fix their own bikes at a community bike shop
(www.edmontonbikes.ca). These
jobs lead me to get professionally trained in bicycle mechanics and bike fitting
at Barnett's Bicycle Institute (www.bbinstitute.com). And finally when my lovely Australian wife
Claire led me back to her homeland it made sense to buy or start a bike store.
We chose Myrtleford and the Myrtleford Cycle Centre because of the beauty of
the area, its closeness to Claire's parent's farm and its proximity to Murray and
to the Mountains Rail Trail. It also didn't hurt that everyone we've met in
Myrtleford, from Sam the previous owner of the MCC to the folks who made
our lunch in the deli, were friendly and welcoming.
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Claire
It was during a family holiday to Lord Howe Island that I learned how to cycle.
With a limited number of locals permitted to drive vehicles there, tourists like
us rented bikes to get around and explore the island. I was already 7 or 8 at
the time so it took a very short time to get my balance and pedal alone. To be
precise, I remember completing two small circles by myself on a flat, grassy
area before my mum said "okay, let's go".
Now, if you have been to Lord Howe Island or can deduce that a landmass in
the Pacific Ocean is volcanic in origin, you know that there are steep
mountains. Perhaps braking technique was not fully explained or perhaps I
simply panicked however the first descent ended in tears when I chose to ride
into a tree rather than continue bombing out of control down the hill. At least
there is a lovely photo of Mum tenderly drying my eyes with a handkerchief to
mark my first cycling crash.
Notwithstanding that auspicious beginning, I embraced cycle commuting
during high school and have commuted, toured, worked as a messenger and
raced on a bicycle. When I left Australia to travel in 1998, I took my bike with
me and we both returned ten years later, having acquired a loving husband,
beautiful daughter plus several other bikes in my fleet.
I spent a significant amount of that time abroad working professionally for the
City of Edmonton in Canada (www.edmonton.ca/cycling) as a transportation
engineer responsible for the cycling program. This entailed planning and
designing cycling routes and multi-use trails as well as developing an array of
supporting infrastructure for cyclists. This included cycling maps, bike
parking, cycling education and a month long festival of bike events. I also did
a weekly bicycle traffic report on community radio, which is how I met Steve.
I didn't mean to stay away so long but I would not have stayed if I did not
enjoy it and I also quickly learned how to cycle in frigid conditions!
Taking over Myrtleford Cycle Centre, I have not totally left my active
transportation career behind as I have some casual work lined up with a
cycling and pedestrian oriented consulting firm in Melbourne, and I hope to
work with the local councils to expand cycling amenities throughout the
region. I am excited to be now living in the Myrtleford area, which offers us
plenty of cycling opportunities plus a relaxed lifestyle and distinct hot and
cold seasons. We chose to live a little out of Myrtleford close to the Rail Trail
so that we can enjoy a beautiful commute to the shop and other businesses in
town. Okay, truthfully it was also to ensure that we keep cycling enough to
counteract the amount of cake that we like to eat.
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Emlyn
Some businesses have a mascot or shop cat that their patrons get to know. We
have a daughter, Emlyn, who was born in July 2007 that our customers can
watch grow.
Em is already displaying velo love with her own push-along trike and enjoys
playing with pedals, bells and greasy chains. That said, she may break our
hearts when she is old enough to drive by purchasing a petrol guzzling
behemoth!
For now, she happily rides with us in comfort in either her Burley or Chariot
trailer. (They're marvellous for towing kids, groceries and other
paraphernalia.) We're looking forward to teaching her to cycle plus the excuse
to buy ourselves snazzy accessories like a trail-a-bike and a tandem when she
is older. By the way, Claire was riding (slowly) her cruiser bike the day before
going into labour and credits cycling as helping her quick postpartum
recovery.
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