Pro Cyclery ride: Say goodbye to former owners, hello to new ones

I had no idea what I was looking for ... or supposed to look for.
I had dusted off my old Nishiki bicycle, mainly because of spin teacher Tara Troxel’s nonstop updates on the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong. That prompted me to read Lance’s first book, “It’s Not About the Bike, which prompted me to start pedaling for the first time in years. That was the summer of 2001.
A few months later, I started looking for a new ride — an old, heavy bike (not an old, heavy rider) was the only explanation for how long it took me to get through the Red Rock Loop.
But I was one confused shopper — my online searches mentioned aluminum frames, steel frames, carbon frames; eight speeds, nine speeds, 10 speeds. What??? Eight or nine speeds? My Nishiki had 10 — why would I want only eight or nine?
A trip to Pro Cyclery got me on the right road. Richard and Deborah Craig answered all my inane questions. My Nishiki had 10 speeds — two chainwheels in the front and five gears in the back. The eight, nine and 10 speeds referred to the back cassette only. Bikes had that many gears in the back, with a chainwheel that had two or three rings. I could have 27 gears? Look out Loop, look out Lance — here I come.
I ended up buy a Felt road bike from Pro Cyclery and haven’t stopped riding. Richard and Deborah treated me like family then — and every time since that I set foot in their store at Charleston and Antelope.
So I am sad to say that Craigs have decided to move on — they sold Pro Cyclery and now build custom cycling wheels (see prowheelbuilder.com).
The cycling community gets the chance to say goodbye to Richard and Deborah and say hello to new Pro Cyclery owners Mike and Cheri Tillman at a Meet and Greet Ride at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. There will be a 25-mile ride at 8 a.m., followed by hanging out and chowing down at the shop.
I can thank the Craigs for all the help over the years, and for one last favor — not making the Loop part of the Saturday ride. Turns out the old, heavy bike was not the problem.