About

I’ll tell you something very interesting. I was hired to write copy for Tacoma Bike. Not because I’m witty or know how to spin a product a certain way. But because I know the people of Tacoma Bike, I’m honest and I love to write almost as much as they love serving people and playing with bicycles. There are other things too, but all in all the connection was based on a mutual relationship that spanned the personal and the professional while sharing a kindred spirit toward the lifestyle, attitude and posture of being a servant to people who do or want to ride bicycles. I try my best to write in a way that is true to these people as individuals. I’m not part of an ad agency that creates marketing angles or themes. I just write to create a clear looking glass of sorts of the subject.

And I love bicycles too.

Why does this matter? It’s because the first draft of this same piece I wrote backfired a bit. When I showed it to the group, it was met with a few raised eyebrows…not because it was bad, but because it was too bicycle-centric.

I had hit on a nerve amongst the staff that it was not the bicycles that came first- rather, it was the attitude of serving the customer that was at the top of their list. They said to me “we could sell washing machines as well as we sell bicycles, because it’s how we want to relate with our customers that wakes us up in the morning. The fact that we sell bicycles is just the polish, because bicycles are fun.”

That pretty much summed it up. I sat back and agreed entirely and realized that while there is tremendous value in the bikes, parts and things they sell…there is exponentially more value in how they sell it. Fortunately that same passion bleeds onto the rest and this means selecting bikes, part, accessories and things that are well thought, planned and every bit as cool as the people. Some days I go in just to touch things and look at bikes. Others I go in just to catch a view from the window overlooking downtown and talk about whatever. And when the sun is out, I might get stupid and talk trash about trying to go fast or something.

Whatever it is, Tacoma Bike has left me with this sense of belonging in Tacoma and at the same time being completely connected to the cycling pulse of the world. I feel good here.

Life is Better on a Bike.