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In April of 1977, Kirk Newell, then a 26-year-old graduate of the
University
of California at San Diego, opened a one-man bike shop in a
small corner
of an old turn-of-the-century building on Main Street in
Ramona, a small
backwater community located in the foothills of the
San Diego County
mountains. Clark Cathcart, a 12-year-old neighborhood
bike nut, began
hanging around the shop and was soon hired.
Kirk
and Clark shared a passion for bicycles and speed. In the early days
they concentrated on bike repair and BMX racing, but soon branched out
into Human Powered Vehicle racing. (Human Powered Vehicles, or HPVs
for short, are recumbent bikes and trikes with full fairings that can
attain freeway speeds.) They built and campaigned several successful
machines during the 1980s, learning much in the process. Today, over
30 years later, Kirk's Bike Shop, Inc. not only still serves the
bicycling
needs of Ramona (now a bedroom community of San Diego), but
also
has branched out to become one of the leading recumbent, tandem,
Bike Friday Test Ride, and BMX racing specialty shops in western
United States.
The shop is still located in that turn-of-the-century
building (which Kirk and
his wife Trudie now own), but now the major
portion of the building is stuffed
from floor to ceiling with the
latest recumbent bikes, tandems, Bike Friday
travel-friendly bikes,
and BMX racing bikes, along with parts and accessories
for all your
cycling needs. With the advent of the Internet, Kirk and Clark
have
been able to further enlarge their customer base to include all of the
United States and Canada! Join the e-Friends of Kirk's Bike Shop
mailing list
to find out about our latest promotions and sales
events!
Kirk's
Bike Shop, Inc. was founded by Kirk and Trudie Newell, husband
and
wife. Finding it difficult to enjoy bike rides together, as former
bike racer Kirk kept sprinting ahead and then coming back to
"see
how she was doing",
they bought a Jack Taylor tandem in the summer
of 1977. This allowed
Trudie to "get up to speed"
with road
riding and kept the couple together on their weekly rides.
Through the
past 30 years of raising their two boys, Dustin and
Garret, and watching
their business grow, they continued to ride the
bike together. Shortly
after the tragic death of their oldest son,
Dustin, in September of
2000, they bought a Rans Screamer recumbent
tandem and began training
in earnest for a bicycle trip to Europe
where Dustin had spent his junior
year in college. They planned to
visit the places and people that their
son had known during his last
year of life. After the trip, they began
putting more and more miles
on the bike and began riding with members
of tandem clubs in Los
Angeles and San Diego that they had met during
their journey. Today,
they continue to ride with these clubs, spreading
the
"gospel" of recumbent, tandem and Bike Friday
folding bike riding
to experts and novice riders alike. Here is a
picture of them cruising
past a cornfield in the Alsace region of
France.
Kirk and Trudie glide down the Natchez Trace aboard a Bike Friday
DoubleDay Recumbent Tandem, pulling their gear behind them in
the
special suitcase that allow the bike to be checked as regular
luggage
and then converts into a spacious lightweight trailer!
A curious group of Mississippi school kids all want to try a Bike
Friday!!
Trudie & Kirk, Dale
& Irwin, Linda & Jeff, and Ed
& Lois, all from Southern
California, ready to roll
off on a 6-day tour of Mississippi on their Bike Friday
Tandems.
Kirk
and Trudie touring Italy 2008.
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