Monday, April 1, 2013

New Olde Byke Shoppe

A new business specializing in bicycle sales, service and much, much more is rolling into town.

Fresh Air Transportation and Repair "Bucky" Belt Buckle

Those who've lived in the metro area for something north of thirty years and who might have had occasion to visit Piedmont Park long before the Botanical Gardens and yet have managed to stave off early senility might just remember Fresh Air Transportation and Repair. The original owner, Bucky Weatherall and his daughter Becky, a recently retired teacher have decided to revisit their roots and re-open Fresh Air. After much research they determined Dunwoody was the ideal location.

Over a beer at a local watering hole Bucky could barely contain his excitement. As a former non-doping amateur racer he has biking in his blood and appreciates the effort and enthusiasm required to create what is now a growing bicycle community here in the 'Wood. He was particularly glad to learn of the Brook Run Velodrome and is hopeful that the new sports facility at Perimeter will include an indoor track.

This is more than a nostalgic re-opening of a favorite business--Bucky plans a shop like no other in America. In addition to standard fare (sales, repair, custom frames, and customizations) there will be a training facility and health food supplies. He has partnered with a former racing colleague in California to create a unique computer controlled bicycle training stand controlled by an iPhone app, sporting full simulation scenery and providing a realistic track, road racing or touring experience. Becky is leveraging her passion for natures foods to create a line of preservative-free eat-in or take-away healthful meals, snacks and locally sourced wild flower honey.

For Becky, a free spirit, life has always been about either Birkenstocks or cleats and she embraces the neo-urbanism taking hold, especially in the village proper. Bucky confessed to living in the Piedmont bike store back in the day and though he recognizes the cool-factor of the mixed use live-work-play movement he isn't quite ready to give up his back yard garden--it's a mini-farm Mel Bartholomew would be proud of and he harvests a weekly crop of some very special herb. But Becky is leading the search for the retail space and favors shop-below, bed-above configurations which she feels confident is coming to the village in a timeframe that will suit Fresh Air as well as her family.

So dear reader, keep an eye out for a new Shoppe coming our way and welcome Bucky and Becky to the new, reinvented Dunwoody.