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Take a bike
By Josie Klemaier
jklemaie@mscd.edu

Photo by David L. Yost • dyost2@mscd.edu Employees, customers and friends of Salvagetti bike shop head to Gaia Bistro at 1551 South Pearl St. for breakfast on their Sunday ride.

A herd of about 15 bicyclists leisurely pedaled down the Cherry Creek bike trail to Pearl Street on March 25, soaking up the sun of the warm spring morning. One of them toted a wailing Vizla puppy in a trailer behind them, acting as a siren surprising walkers and residents, who laughed and then wondered about the group whisking cheerfully by them.

The group was from Salvagetti, an independent Denver bike shop located just a few blocks from Auraria at 1221 Speer Blvd. The shop’s employees and customers get together regularly for a Sunday ride to enjoy breakfast at Gaia Bistro, where they convene to talk as friends and cycling enthusiasts. Other bike shops also organize rides, but Salvagetti emphasizes a relaxed, friendly vibe.

Each cyclist has a varied relationship with his or her bike. Some ride everywhere, some commute to work, and some ride for recreation. But on every ride they are all part of Denver’s thirsty biking community. They talk about their love for riding bikes in Denver and the close culture that stems from the community’s passion for it.

“Denver’s trying really hard,” said Salvagetti owner Scott Taylor about the city’s accommodations for cyclists. “I fully believe that Denver’s going to step up a little bit more. That’s part of the reason why I started a bike shop up in Denver.”

The Denver bike culture is probably best known through the widely publicized Critical Mass organization, a nationwide collective of bike riders who take to the streets in masses in major cities to raise awareness that bicyclists and cars share the road.

Taylor said that though the idea behind Critical Mass is an ideal, he’s not sure that the Denver organization, which has clashed with police and been ticketed for not obeying traffic laws, has delivered the message.

Bicycles are traffic, Taylor said, but they need to work toward educating everyone on the rules of the road, adding that he is occasionally harassed by drivers who tell him to “get on the sidewalk,” which is illegal for a biker in the city. However, he understands the responsibility bicyclists have and doesn’t let such harassment get in the way of his life and business with bikes.

“We don’t just sell bikes, we sell a passion for bikes,” Taylor said about Salvagetti. The starting price of a bike at Salvagetti, which also does tune-ups and repairs old bikes, is around $300. At the shop, they gauge which bike is right for their customer based on what they plan to use it for and how often they plan to ride. He said that there is a bike out there for anyone interested in commuting, exercising or recreating.

“People who are apprehensive should just talk to their local bike shop about how to do it,” he said. “Different people have different skill levels. There’s a bike for pretty much everybody out there. You’ve got to get out there and try it, and you’ve got to give yourself time to not panic.”

Maynard Harshon and Tamar Miller have been coming on Salvagetti’s breakfast rides since the first week they moved to Denver from Tuscon, Ariz., for Denver’s great public transportation and bike trails.

“There’s a missionary aspect to this,” Harshon said about biking businesses and communities. “Bicycles are on a mission for good.”

Harshon and Miller love Denver’s biking benefits so far.

“People here aren’t aware how special it is for a cyclist, as a place to live,” Harshon said. “Here there is a cross-section of people who actually use public transportation and ride bicycles.”

Harshon and Miller said the enjoyment they get out of cycling is the main motivation for biking nearly everywhere they go, but there are also many social and economic reasons.

“Even if you can afford to have a car, you take the light rail or the bus because it’s more convenient,” Miller said.

Taylor also said he gets around the city every day on his bike, something that has become second nature to him.

“I buy into the idea that bikes aren’t something that you have to struggle to get into your life they’re just sort of there,” he said. “I don’t consider taking the bus or driving.”

Joining up with the Salvagetti Sunday ride is easy: just show up at 8 a.m. with a bike, a helmet and, as their website says, “no Spandex.”