Gregg's Picnic 2008

July 13th marked the Gregg's company picnic. Now in it's, I don't know, 20th year the Gregg's Picnic is hitting it's stride. Always a great event, the participation has gone up and down over the years. This year was a banner year for participation. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 employees this time of year and most of them made it. The reason for this great participation? The reasons are numerous; great food, good morale, good people and (this was the ringer because we've had all the others before) competition between the stores.

That's right a little competition to get people out and having a good time. This year there were three organized games. We had the ever popular Egg Run (we used fake eggs, don't want to waste food!), the always hilarious Three Legged race, and the end all, be all of picnic games, the Tug-O-War. With the Tug-O-War came bragging rights and this year the winner of the event was Gregg's Bellevue Cycle with what was a dominating performance. The Alderwood team won their way into the finals with an Egg Run victory and the first pull between Bellevue and Greenlake left the Greenlake team bewildered by the thrashing the received at the hands of what looked to be an undermanned Bellevue team. Bellevue, fresh off their victory over Greenlake, dispatched the Alderwood team just as easily. While Alderwood was licking it's wounds the Greenlake team, though the use of video, found a possible rule infraction and demanded a re-pull against the might team from Bellevue. This re-pull was granted and the pull was set up. Greenlake demanded to switch sides as well, trying to get the odds in their favor. As the judges hand was raised and the crowed roared the pull was on. But it was not to be for the team from mothership. It was a more competitive pull but the team from the upstart Bellevue store triumphed again. So the trophy will reside in Bellevue for this year and I'm sure that it will be hotly contested for years to come.

It was a great time and it just goes to show how Gregg's Cycle, even when competing with each other, is a great family store with great family.

Wamu Family 4th and Bikes

Lot's of bikes!

For the second year in a row we were out at the Family 4th manning the bike parking area. The area last year ended up being too small and they people from One Reel did it right this year, expanding the area to fit what we estimate at close to 800 bikes by the time the fireworks started. The annual 4th of July event draws thousands of people and the parking is, as you can imagine, a nightmare. It's great that organizations like One Reel is looking to diminish the impact of their events by offering bike parking. And we're happy to be able to help.

So what are we doing while we're down there? Well, we're not responsible for the safety of the bikes, but we do watch the area the whole time, answer any questions that the riders might have about bikes or the event and fix things on the bikes that might have gone wrong and prevent the rider from making it home. So, we're not doing tune-ups but we are taking care of some fixes that people might need to make it home. Some of the things we fixed this year included flat tires, a crank arm that had migrated off the bike, a couple of brake cables and some other random stuff. All in all a great day to hang out at the park, help people out and, eventually, watch the fireworks.

First Bike Stories II

Back in August of '07 I published a request for people to tell their "First Bike Story". Working here at Gregg's for the last 15 years or so, one of the best parts of the job is having all the people come and tell me that they bought their first bike at Greenlake years ago. To a person, they get a wistful look in their eyes when they talk about their first bike. First bikes are special, they mean more than their parts. They mean freedom, fun, inclusion in a select group of people that ride, most of all independence. People are passionate about their bicycles. Recently I asked, on twitter, for people to tell me their favorite bike. The answers were quick and passionate.

benayers @greggscycles my favourite bike without doubt my new BH road bike. A beauty and so quick it scares me.

stephs @greggscycles SOMA Rush. I absolutely adore this bike. I leave my husband every day to be with it.

dantisser @greggscycles The bike Im riding this weekend, a 2006 Foes Fly with a Manitou Travis


RunVMC @greggscycles Yellow fixie, converted from my dad's early 70s Motobecane 10-spd frame (new wheels/pedals/bars/etc.) is my all-time fav (RIP)

There are few objects that inspire the same passion (at least in my experience). People love their bikes and they especially love their first bikes. Here are a few lines from a couple of the first bike stories:

My first bike was purchased before I could be influenced by what might be "cool". I was still a year away from kindergarten and based my decision solely on color and aesthetics. It was candyapple red with red and white streamers.
Read the rest of this comment here

So the summer before college, I bought a 1988 black Diamondback Topanga mountain bike for about $300 of my babysitting dollars and started biking around hot, muggy Houston in all sorts of conditions. Just to get ready.
Read the rest of this comment here

Inside was a brand new credit card, pre-approved, just call to activate. I called, walked down to Gregg's and rode home on my brand new purple and gold Specialized Rockhopper Comp with full Suntour X-1 components. I loved that bike. I'm probably still paying it off!
Read the rest of this comment here

It's your turn. Tell us about your first bike. Just use the comments link and share your story. Thanks and have fun!

Technorati Tags: first bike, bicycle, bikes

Bike Friendly Bellevue

Seems that Bellevue is really trying to push alternative transportation. This makes sense with all of the construction that is going on.

Check this out: http://www.chooseyourwaybellevue.org/

Gas Prices and Bike Sales?

I'm getting the question quite often these days. Mostly from publications that want me to advertise with them. "Are recent gas prices increasing your sales?" At this point it's too early to tell. But, there have been quite a few recent news articles that would lead you to believe that this is true. I especially like this one as it make great sense to pair the Washington State Ferries and cycling.

Make room for more bikes

TAD SOOTER; Reporter
tsooter@bainbridgereview.com
Published: May 17, 2008 12:00:00 AM

On Monday, Washington State Ferry Captain Ty Anderson watched 130 bicyclists pedal onto the 5:30 p.m. sailing from Seattle to Bainbridge.

It was the most cyclists he had ever seen board a regular commuter run, but he was hardly surprised by the number. Anderson, himself an islander and bicycle commuter, has seen the number of cyclists grow steadily in his 25 years as a captain.

Read more...

I'll keep posting them as I see more. Thanks to the bikeologist for the link. You can check out some of his videos here.

Fixin' Stuff In Kirkland

We spent our Memorial Day in Kirkland this year where we were proud to support the Annual 7 Hills of Kirkland benefiting the Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing Organization. The KITH's mission is to provide temporary and longer term housing for individuals and families threatened by homelessness in the greater Kirkland region. Presently, KITH manages a twelve-unit apartment complex and owns two four-plexes. KITH also provides case-management for its constituents and an assortment of related charitable functions serving the local community. So, very early in the morning we showed up to lend mechanical support to the more than 1300 riders in this great event.

The 7 Hills of Kirkland boasts three great courses. From the traditional 7 Hills course (about 40 miles) to a Metric Century to a full blown Century ride. We were there every step of the way to make sure that people were able to finish the ride. This is the first year that we've participated in the 7 Hills ride and it was a great ride to be involved with. From the top notch courses to the outstanding strawberry shortcake at the end, this is a ride that should be at the top of your list of rides to do every year. While not for the faint of heart (this ride does have as much as 7,000 feet of climbing) this ride was well supported and a great challenge for all involved.

We'd like to thank Chris Fox and the rest of the 7 Hills staff and volunteers for providing a great ride and for allowing us to be part of it.






See a few more pictures that we took
See all the pictures from the event

Gregg's Cycle on the Seattle Channel

Back on the 6th of May the Seattle Channel came down and did a shoot for their show "Citystream". Lowell Deo and the crew of the Seattle Channel shot about 5 or 6 minutes of their show in our store. The show it's self was about a few different topics but they were at Gregg's to talk about bike to work day. The guys that came down were great, but I never new how long it takes to just shoot a couple minutes of video.

You can see the whole show here.