Day 46 Newton, KS (Newton Bike Shop) “Bike Wash and Rest”

Arriving at the Newton Bike Shop last evening. Heather, co-owner with husband James, drove us up to the community center to take a shower. That evening we chatted with other cyclists, also at the shop. The atmosphere is very casual with cyclist coming and going. The first night at the shop hostel is free the second $9.95, can’t beat that price!

We slept in until 7am then had coffee next door at Norm’s, a very comfortable coffee bar.

Coffee at NORM’s, Lisa, Linda, and fellow from Oregon.

 

We must have spent a few hours there. Finally we got around to getting organized and road our bike about 10 blocks to the laundry. Laundry complete, we headed to the grocery store (Dillons, aka Fred Myer). One of the employees asked Lisa about our ride and 10 mins later hunted us down in the store and gave us each a $10 dollar Gift Card.

Thank you Dillon’s!
Our bikes were in line to get washed so we hung out the rest of the day, catching up on blogging, and of course, grading papers.
Here’s a picture of my bike getting a bath which included a chain cleaning and lube.

We decided to splurge and have dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant. It was good and we rode back to the shop. James, the owner, was there all evening waiting for the number 3 guy on the Trans Am Race to arrive. He finally arrived about 1am, we were of course sound asleep.

Here is a picture of his bike, talk about traveling light!

James and Heather, quickly washed his clothes, fed him well, and pulled out a air mattress so he could get some sleep.

In the evening we went through all of our stuff to see if we could mail anything home. We found some items that we had not used or we had two, for example, we only kept one cook stove.

Before we went to bed we signed the wall. I wrote: “James and Heather, You are visionaries, keep dreaming”.
Newton Bike Shop will grow and expand because James and Heather know what cyclists want and need. They run their business based on the needs of the cyclist, not their needs. For example, they know a cyclist wants a hot shower, food, a kitchen, a bed, and plugs, and that is what they provide in addition to the bike wash, beds, a bathroom, and excellent mechanics.

Tomorrow we head to Stafford.

I’ll keep you posted.

The Newton Bike Shop mascot, Harley.