Perennial Cycle

Wrapping up 2016 brings me to a thankful place. A year ago the shop was getting close to a name change that left a lot of unknowns and concerns about the upcoming season at Perennial Cycle. No matter how sure I was about the name change being the right thing to do, it's hard to whack nearly 25 years of branding off the shelf and not have some concerns about the transition.

Well, the new sign went up last week and this nearly finalizes the transition away from Calhoun Cycle and onto our newer, better Perennial Cycle. All I can say is Thank You!! The transition has gone very well and the grumbling trolls moved on quickly while the supporters of the name change continue to show their support by joining our customer base. We all really appreciate the support. It's a fun place to work and thanks to our customers, we get to keep our jobs : )

You have all shown me that hope is a reasonable feeling to have. I cannot thank you enough for that.

Calhoun Cycle is proud to announce that we are changing our name to Perennial Cycle.

The name Calhoun Cycle was inherited decades ago when it originated as Calhoun Cycle Cellar, a modest bike rental shop with a cigar box for a cash register. Over the years the name Calhoun Cycle has served us well. To our cycling commuter customers we love so dearly, it has come to represent our goals for the bicycle as a pragmatic and sustainable means of alternative daily transportation. Given these goals, we have found the ethics of Calhoun Cycle at odds with the unethical history of the Calhoun name. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the history and heritage of Mr. John C. Calhoun, and feel an undeniable need to separate ourselves from that history.

The name Calhoun represents a shameful past of institutional racism perceived as a “positive good”, and the misguided cultural colonialism of renaming a lake after an undeserving man. We cannot go back and change our past, but we can learn from it and from our mistakes, and attempt to right our wrongs.

Therefore, we are consciously removing Calhoun from our company name and have chosen the new name Perennial Cycle to best represent our values. When something is perennial it is enduring, it is sustainable and it lives in an unending cycle. Perennial is the flora that surrounds us, which we depend on for our own sustainable existence. And like the tulips, crocus, and basque flowers pushing their way up through the snow, nothing gives us more pleasure in the Minnesota springtime than to also see our robust perennial cycling community bloom to life once again.

We thank you all for your support over the years we’ve spent together, and for supporting us in our strategic decision to bury Calhoun.

I'd like to thank our world class customers for helping to make 2014 a great season. It has been a very rewarding year at the shop. A great mix of social rides, a high volume of repair projects and a world of people riding their bikes (new and old) into the shop in need... Racks, bags, baskets, tires, tubes, power-assists, apparel and on and on. Perennial Cycle is truly blessed to have so many customers that ride their bikes every day!

To top off the 2014 season, Perennial Cycle has been nominated with just 4 other shops across the country as the BEST URBAN/LIFESTYLE Bike Shop by THE cycle industry magazine—Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, also known as BRAIN—as a part of Interbike's first annual industry awards gala. Known as the IB Awards, the event will celebrate the bike industry's success and innovation. This is a great honor for us and it's all thanks to YOU, our fabulous customers that are willing to look at the bicycle as a transportation tool as well as a fine way to get some exercise.

A complete list of nominees in all categories is available here (PDF). Categories for the retailer awards include Best Urban/Lifestyle Shop, Best Pro Road Shop, Best Mountain Bike Shop, among others, with five nominees within each category. Winners will be announced at the IB Awards in Las Vegas, Thursday, September 11, 2014.

Thanks to all of you great customers as well as the fabulous staff of Perennial Cycle for making this possible.

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Perennial Cycle has been the host of the Brompton US Championship for the past two years. Meeting all of the racers has made me want to participate, despite the fact that I'm not a racer (I must be a competitive commuter). This year BicycleSpace, a shop in Washington DC, hosted the event which gave me the opportunity to do this.

Perennial Cycle has a lightweight, speedy demo Brompton that I rode quite a bit last summer. I felt this S2L-X would be a great choice for the event, so a few weeks before the race I started putting some miles on the bike with my sights set on losing a few pounds as well as getting in shape (I was taking my cues from Spencer Morse who is one of the strongest Brompton racers I've seen).

out on an extended morning ride to work before heading to DC

I got in the best shape I can muster (I'm a 51 year old realist) and did in fact lose the 5 pounds I was aiming for. I made some tweaks to the bike, but didn't bother up'ing the gearing as the 7% reduced gears were pretty much all I could handle.

Race day brought on a sickening mix of heat and humidity. This was certainly an edge up for me having been raised by two South Dakotans that were raised during the depression. They happened to be Norwegians as well, which meant that until it hit 100° the temperature was never mentioned and then only in a neighborly fashion ("I sure hope it's not so hot that the day lilies droop..."). I happened to be standing with my bike near Jordan as he called out for the racers to start lining up their bikes, so I went right up and set my folded bike in the front row.

turning on my camera before the race

I envisioned myself running up and quickly unfolding my bike and heading out first, but running up the lanes with a lot of people was challenging to do without crashing. I patiently worked up to my bike and methodically unfolded it and hit the road with probably less than 20 people in front of me. All good.... Up and riding, feeling good on the bike with the seat height correct and even straight : )

Racing to my bike at the start

The first half lap was a big loop through and around a couple of RFK Stadium parking lots. By the time I finished this section I was past almost all but the speed demons. The next section was cobblestone that wove through Congressional Cemetery. This started with a fairly steep climb and by the time I got to the top of this I could see a group of four racers that were in the lead. At this point I passed the last person other than the lead group and saw a big strong rider pulling up behind me. It was Peter of NYCE Wheels and I smiled and mumbled something incoherent. He drafted me for a moment, but was quickly moving past me nodding for me to grasp his draft. I managed it for all of about 10 seconds and then yelled "good luck" to him and in a flash he was gone. With the first of my 3-1/2 laps completed the race was feeling pretty lonely. Not a great feeling being that I had envisioned working with someone to break the wind with, but before the second lap was completed I had a lone rider ahead. I caught and passed him (Alex) for a while and then he caught and passed me, and this back and forth went on. At about lap 2-1/2 Alex and I caught a rider that had been holding with the lead pack, but now the heat was getting the best of him and he was dragging a bit. Alex and I passed him and continued our cat and mouse past lap 3. With about a mile left in the race I passed Alex for the last time. The heat must have worked him down, so I crossed the finish line in fourth place thinking I was done, but got no signs from anyone and I just wasn't 100% sure if I had done all the laps (duh). So without even thinking it over I went on to do one more lap. I feel pretty silly about that, but it just points out is how unseasoned a racer I am.

these are all the BUSC 2014 racers that were at last year's BUSC in Minneapolis

The weekend was super fun and while I loved being part of the actual race, I have to say that all the weekend's events were an absolute blast. Being with a group of Brompton superfans is a ball : )
Friday night at the British Embassy, Saturday's Brompton Urban Challenge, and Sunday's Championship race were all great fun to be a part of. If you have a chance to participate in the Brompton US Championship in the future, I'd highly recommend it. While my post talks about the race in a competitive tone, the majority of participants are out to ride with a large group of politely paced racers that are all connected by there lovely Brompton Folding Bicycles.

Here are some links regarding the weekend:
-my pictures on Flickr
-gallery by Amy Ta
-BicycleSpace's recap (with event video)
-Washington Post article and video about BUSC 2014
-Brompton US Championship website