It's really annoying to get stuck behind some jerk in a Lance Armstrong jersey going 15 mph in the middle of traffic. I AGREE that bicycles should be treated as traffic. But slow traffic gets honked at, flipped off, and passed. So don't be an a-hole about it.
Anyway, it seems that a lot of my bicycling friends (who just so happen to not ride 4 thousand dollar racing bikes) don't like bike snobs either.
Case in point. Try going to the bike shop on Iliff and Colorado Blvd. You can't miss it, it's right where Iliff does that little jig. Try going in there wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Not a particularly nice day, as I did, or a busy day. Just a regular old day being your regular old self.
Now, here's what I look like on the weekends, for those of you who may not know:
I really don't think I'm THAT scary.I DO, however, look like I'm 15. Or thereabouts.
So back to the point. Try going into said bikeshop on Iliff and Colorado and play "How long until I'm even acknowledged." It's fun.
For me, the answer was "Never." Yes, I was in there for about 15 minutes, trying to look at single speeds and fixies. I tried talking loudly about having questions with the jerks standing around nearby. I tried playing around with the floor models.
Still nothing. So I started taking bikes down off the rack, playing around with them, and left them leaning against the wall.
Jerks.
On Saturday, I had the great PLEASURE of stopping in to Salvagetti on Speer. I was greeted at the door by the owner himself. His name is Scott. He's the man.
So this place is completely awesome. To give you a taste of exactly HOW awesome, here's a quote from their website-
"Sal-va-jet-tee
Salvagetti is simply the english word salvage with T-T-I added at the end to make it sound Italian. The pronunciation is sal-va-jet-tee. The word literally means a bike shop at 1234 Speer Blvd. in Denver, CO. We aren’t making fun of other bike shops with big attitudes. We promise."
Awesome.
Scott helped me find a pretty cool fixie, a Jamis Beatnik 53cm. He knows my pal Robert Koch as well, so that was cool.
It's nice to just talk to people who like to ride bikes. Nobody is going to confuse me with Lance, and that's ok with me. I just like being on 2 wheels. And so do these guys.
So pop on by, their nice. Park in the allyway right before the shop (immediately after you pass 12th) though, because there is no street parking and 13th is one way to the west. So it's a hassel to go around the block. Especially when the Cinco de Mayo parade is going on and 14th is a mess.
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