Bike Utah Valley

Last weekend I was at my brother’s house for a family get together. During the meal, my brother’s brother-in-law came up to me and asked, “you’re the bike guy, right?” First off, I definitely don’t consider myself the authority when it comes to bikes or cycling, but I have done my fair share, so I said, “yeah, I guess so.”

He continued, “So, I’ve been thinking about getting into cycling. Maybe commuting to work on a bike.” This is the best part of being “the bike guy.” Perhaps you know what I mean. If you enjoy riding bikes and have done so for enough time, it doesn’t take long before people begin to ask questions.

The difficult part of being “the bike guy” is curbing your enthusiasm enough so you can really help the person you’re talking to. Having some practice in these conversations, I think I was able to accurately guage his interest and skill level, point him in the right direction, and offer my help and a bit of advice.

I think the trick is asking questions. Ask a lot of questions. Find out what type of riding they want to do. Guage their responses. Then, offer your advice. In this case, I encouraged him to look for a sensible bike that would sit him upright and get him to work in normal clothes. He really liked the idea, and I was very happy to have had the chance to introduce someone else to the option of cycling as transportation.

If you ever have, or have already had, a chance to be “the bike guy”, what did you say? What approach did you take, and how did things work out?

If you haven’t already checked it out, BikeUV has its own google group now. Sneak on over and sign up to meet like-minded folks and stay updated on bike and transportation news in the valley.
http://groups.google.com/group/bikeutahvalley?hl=en