I remember at the age of 11 walking into A1 for the first time, the smell of the tires, the sight of the beautiful high polish that only high end road bicycles can have, and that sound, the sound of mechanics putting together dream machines back in the shop, it was sensory overload.  I still feel that sense of wonderment when I walk into the shop now.  I remember my brother and my dad picking out this beautiful Peugeot racing bicycle, and knowing that if my dad thought it was good, then that bike must be spectacular.  I loved that bike, even though it belonged to my dad and my brother, not to mention it was far too big for me to ride.  But that Peugeot sparked something in me, it kick-started my obsession for bicycles, and I immediately began saving up my allowance so that I could buy a fancy bicycle too.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been selling and repairing bikes for 30 years now, but perhaps the silver in my hair is confirmation enough of all the time that has passed since then and now.  Looking back, I know that I was extremely lucky to have worked at some of the best shops in town, where I really learned as much about the business side of bicycles as I did the bikes themselves.  The greatest lesson that I learned from these other local shops was to focus on your community first, it’s the area that you will have the most impact in.  Proof of that is confirmed to me nearly every day when a customer comes to me and says, “I got my very first bicycle here” or “our family has been buying bikes here for over 30 years”. 

Having our business in Kirkwood provides us with a tremendous amount of pride.  It’s a community that has supported A1 for over 40 years, and has supported Billy Goat Bicycle Company for the past 5, and we couldn’t be any more grateful to our customers and our community.  The strength of a community is often defined by things like access to local resources, programs for social change, programs for community safety, and having good contacts with others.  Kirkwood’s commitment to making it a great place to live also makes it one of the best places to own a business.  So had you told me that 30 something years ago that buying that bicycle would lead to me owning a bicycle store in Kirkwood, I doubt that I would have believed you.  I would have thought you were downright bonkers if you’d told me that I’d be purchasing that very shop that I had bought that bicycle from.  The road to here was a long one, with some hits, and certainly some misses along the way, but all of it has been part of the journey.  And all the best journey’s that I’ve ever been on have been by bicycle.