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A row of cruisers sits exterior of Experience On Bikes in Uptown Columbus. (Olivia Yepez)
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — For a lot of, July is a time for barbecues and seaside days, for avid cyclists its all concerning the Tour de France. Uptown Columbus store proprietor Jason McKenzie of Experience On Bikes defined what the three weeks of the Tour de France appear to be on an area degree.
In 2003, McKenzie opened Experience On Bikes and thrust himself into the world of biking headfirst. That 12 months was the primary time he watched the Tour de France and he was hooked. Yearly since then, Mackenzie watches the competitors together with his crew.
“It truly messes up the primary hour of my enterprise on daily basis as a result of all of us are watching it,” stated McKenzie with a chuckle as he sat at a desk within the Experience On Smoothie & Juice Bar related to his bike store.
He continued on and stated, “We watch it collectively, you understand, so we begin earlier than we get to work after which we are available and all of us watch.”
That morning had been an thrilling one, he stated. On the finish of stage seven, which rode from Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux, British bicycle owner Mark Cavendish, 38, almost beat bicycle owner Eddie Merckx’s file of 34 stage wins set in 1975.
At some point later, because the cyclists raced from Liborne to Limoges, Cavendish crashed with 64 kilometers left within the race. He suffered a collarbone harm, forcing him to desert the race, which he had beforehand said can be his final try on the 21-day endurance competitors.
Notably, Cavendish focuses on dash phases, versus mountainous ones. In response to McKenzie sprints are proving to be essential for present Tour leaders.
Whereas McKenzie revealed most of his clients don’t know concerning the Tour de France, he stated those who do are simply as excited as he’s concerning the race.
On the morning Cavendish nearly received, McKenzie recalled his clients got here in with their arms held up pinching their thumbs and forefingers collectively as if to say, “He was so shut!”
“It’s simply enjoyable to get the thrill,” stated McKenzie.
He talked about the Tour typically will get clients interested by explicit bikes or manufacturers too. This 12 months, he stated these bikes are the Specialised Tarmac bike of the DeRosa 838, which cyclists within the Tour de France use.
Experience On Bikes sells each fashions, nonetheless most of McKenzie’s gross sales are cruisers or entry-level highway bikes. He sells about 50 high-end highway bikes or carbon fiber body bikes per 12 months.
For these trying to get into the Tour de France, McKenzie recommends Netflix docudrama “Unchained” which was launched on June 8 of this 12 months. The present follows racers within the 109th Tour de France. In response to Mackenzie, the present might be the subsequent “Drive to Survive,” centered on biking as a substitute of Formulation One.
For biking on an area degree, McKenzie stated his store affords weekly group rides on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Experience On additionally hosts a month-to-month full moon experience. Final week, the store held it’s July Full Moon experience, which was attended by 209 native cyclists.
Experience On Bikes additionally used to host the “Trackpad Century” 100-mile experience at Fort Moore, nonetheless has not carried out so since pre-pandemic years.
Between 2003 and 2008 the Tour de Georgia, a world skilled biking race, rode by way of Georgia cities, together with Columbus.
The Tour de France will finish on Sunday, June 23 in Paris. Canadian Michael Woods representing Israel-Premier Tech is the present race chief, with American Matteo Jorgenson of crew Movistar in fourth.
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