Local bike store offers more than just riding merchandise
Like many people, Brian Lucas, the owner of Off the Chain Bike
shop in Hollister started riding a bicycle when he was a young
boy.
”
I delivered a paper route around San Diego,
”
Lucas said.
But unlike many, that passion for cycling stayed with him as he
grew up.
Local bike store offers more than just riding merchandise
Like many people, Brian Lucas, the owner of Off the Chain Bike shop in Hollister started riding a bicycle when he was a young boy.
“I delivered a paper route around San Diego,” Lucas said.
But unlike many, that passion for cycling stayed with him as he grew up.
In 1983 Lucas and a few cycling friends left San Diego for a 30-day ride on a cross-country extravaganza to Boston.
“One summer we decided to sell everything we had and go for a ride,” he said. “It was easy because I had no attachments.”
For some people lugging 85 pounds of gear on a bike for up to 100 miles a day for 30 days straight might not sound like much of an adventure. But for Lucas it was just what he was looking for.
After working in San Diego at bike shops for a number of years, Lucas was hired at a shop in Gilroy in 1991.
In 2001, he opened Off the Chain in Hollister where he now resides. While operating his store Lucas met Dan Schulz who was working three doors down from the shop as a physical therapist. Schulz’ health was in danger and he needed a lifestyle change when he enters Off the Chain.
“I came here right after it opened on order of the doctor to loss weight,” Schulz said.
Schulz found it hard to start on his own, but found support at Off the Chain.
“I was unable to ride from the shop to South Side Hospital,” said Schulz, about his first rides.
On Saturday and Sundays Off the Chain offers bike rides for anyone who wants to ride. The Saturday ride is for the beginners. It is a casual ride to Tres Pinos that cyclists can do in jeans and a T-shirt.
“We grab a cup of coffee and come back,” Lucas said.
The Sunday ride is more demanding – usually a 30 to 70 mile trip.
Schulz stuck with the rides and is now 40 pounds lighter because of it. He is looking into competing in multiple races in 2008.
“Lucas has been a great coach, mentor and friend,” Schulz said.
A year ago Gilda Aguayo couldn’t even ride a bike. She would coast down her driveway with her feet up and would turn left out of the driveway only because she couldn’t turn right. Eventually she got the hang of it and started to go on the “Jeans and T-shirt” ride.
“It sat in the garage for a month,” Aguayo said, of her bike. “I just looked at it.”
After getting the hang of her bike and doing the Saturday rides with Off the Chain she signed up and road Terra Bella in Gilroy, a 63-mile ride.
“I had only been on my bike about two months,” Aguayo said.
It didn’t end there. A slimmer Aguayo participated in a 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe and finished.
“I thought I was going to die,” she said.
She is now working on plans to do a half triathlon sometime in 2008.
“The whole bike riding thing has given me a huge confidence ride,” Aguayo said.
