Located on the other side of the Blue Ridge from Washington, DC, south of Front Royal, is Luray, Virginia. Washington area cyclists may be familiar with Luray as the mid-way point for the Sky-Mass ride, known locally as the Luray Classic. Luray is the county seat of Page County, which is defined by a corner of the Shenandoah Valley known as the Page Valley. It is also home to Page Valley Cycling, which is promoting the Page Valley Road Race in August (co-promoted by Racing Union).
Some of the same ambitious people promoting the Page Valley Road Race have now also opened a new bike shop at 20 West Main in Luray, called Hawksbill Bicycles. I ought to know, because I’m one of those people. You saw the tease here last week, generously posted by Dear Leader.
All the details aren’t down yet (our permanent sign, for instance, is still in the works), but this weekend marked the first day the shop was open to the public. Our grand opening celebration will occur in May – look for more information here later.
I’m pretty excited about it, and I’m thrilled to be associated with such talented people running the thing. David Duke, the President of Page Valley Cycling who also happens to be an associate member of Racing Union, is the shop manager. He studied at East Coast Bicycle Academy in Harrisonburg under Les Welch, and he’s an even better mechanic then he is a bike racer. And he’s a damn good bike racer. Our business manager, my other half, is a marketing genius whose talent is now focused on the noble task of bringing bikes to the people.
David’s wife Lois, pictured here at the shop, is another partner who brings a fresh perspective and a rare ability to always see the good in others.
You can see one of those fresh ideas is that we do not discriminate. We carry Cannondale, Felt, Marin, and Redline bicycles of all varieties, but we’ll also cheerfully repair your kid’s used Roadmaster, bringing to it the same seriousness we’d provide a carbon frame thoroughbred.
The night before we opened, we worked well past midnight, but at around 10:30 or so, David and I were working on the front display area and a guy in a beat-up old hybrid came riding past us, loaded down with a sleeping bag and provisions. Long story short, the rider was on the road, permanently it seems. Instead of a train-jumping hobo, we found a pedaling hobo. He came by the shop in the morning at our invitation, when we tuned up his old Huffy. Despite everything we tried to do, it was clearly on its last legs. David then escorted up the street to the local thrift shop, where he snagged a vintage Peugeot road bike for ten dollars generously collected from two patrons at the thrift shop. A few more generous people later, and that road bike was outfitted with a rack more appropriate for his heavy load, provided by our shop at cost.
If you believe that one good turn leads to another, the assistance we gave Willy to get back on the road might be a positive omen, a talisman for our shop’s good karma and future success. At least that’s what I think. At the very least, it illustrates our commitment to bicycles for everyone.
Extra special thanks for the support providing by my Racing Union friends – Bryan for the logo design; Scott for his grunt work and valuable advice; Michael for his moral support; and young Ben Gibbons for his award-winning diorama design of the shop floor.
--Chris