Recently a lot of people have asked us what we're doing for Bike Month. In fact, I've heard that question about as often as other bike shop FAQs like the Thursday afternoon favorite "Will this be ready by Friday? I want to ride this weekend" or 'Will this make me faster?" (If you're curious, the answers to those are usually a weary "yes" and a philosophical discussion, respectively.)
The Bike Month question has been a hard one for me to answer. We're a small shop, but we usually manage to put on a couple of special events—a darn good commuter course, for example, or a Bike to Work Day coffee-and-croissant reception. This year? Nothing. Not a tiny tube-patching seminar. Not a croissant crumb. Nothing. I've had a massive guilt storm brewing over this for weeks, and I'm afraid it will have to be hashed out in public. The simple and glib answer to the question is "Nothing. Every month is Bike Month here." There is a certain amount of truth to this, but it misses the point. Yes, TTR Bikes prioritizes the needs of transportation cyclists, commuters, and other everyday riders who get lip service during Bike Month but can sometimes feel marginalized in the bike business. Yes, we are very active in local bike advocacy . . . every month. But Bike Month is bigger than that—the amplification of the Bike Month message can inspire people to work to create the connected, sustainable communities that we want, and can serve to motivate people who are generally interested but haven't made the connections that make the next step—the active step—feel safe and possible.
