Cycling Weekly February 11 issue
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The plight of bike shops, and the high street in general, really hit home last week when I heard the news that Geoffrey Butler Cycles was to close. When I graduated from university in 1998 and just wanted to race my bike, I was lucky enough to get a part-time job in the well-known Croydon shop.
I learnt a huge amount about how the industry worked, what customers wanted (and needed, sometimes two very different things), and from sitting and eating my lunch in the workshop, got some excellent tips and tricks from a brilliant mechanic. I also learned how to make a good cup of tea.
It was a thriving shop and mail-order business back then, and while there were days we wouldn’t see a customer for hours on end, there were others when the shop was so busy we didn’t stop for a break until it was time to lock up and head home.
You’d get to deal with regular customers who’d bring us cake and sit and chat for hours, but also have to try and placate others whose order had somehow gone wrong, who hurled insults down the phone.
They really were my formative years in the sport and I look back on them with great fondness.
Simon Richardson
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My highlights this week
- UCI bans the super tuck
- Simon Carr, Britain’s latest pro
- Pearson Off Grid on test
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Follow on Twitter: @richwindy
Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
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