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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 31, 2005 Wheel fun on Oak Street Local bike shop Ashland Cycle Sport pedaled around town awhile before parking near the downtown Lance Pugh In 1977, I heard a rumor of a bike store getting ready to open in the back of the Orchard Lane, just across the street from my store, Lithia Grocery. In the interior of the former Lithia Motors, a myriad of stores had opened, most struggling to make a profit without being directly seen from the street. I walked in and visited Ashland Cycle Sport, the brainchild of Mike Altabet. I had ridden across the United States some years earlier and was excited to see high-quality road bikes being sold in Ashland. I wheeled back across the street to unload a delivery truck, thinking all the while of pedaling down the road toward a healthy future. Within a year, Mike had moved to the basement of 31 Water St., now the location of the Siskiyou Pub and the Rogue Brewery before that (another victim of the flood of 1997). The location had the look and feel of a medieval dungeon. I walked in expecting Tomas de Torquemada, clothed in a long dark robe, standing next to a bed of red-hot coals with flames sparkling in his eyes. Instead, I was greeted by a eager bike mechanic who snatched my flat tire and scrambled over to the counter where he fixed it in a flash. A few dollars later, I was back on the road and up the street with a smile. The next year, Merrill Hayes bought the business, with Ron Sutphin and Jeff Wilson staying on to help. Wayne and Pat Martin had started Wayne’s Bike Shop on Siskiyou about the same time, later selling it to Bev and Carl Crafton, who changed the name to the Siskiyou Cyclery. Wayne started a bicycle-repair class that became the United Bicycle Institute, now located on Hersey Street and a national destination for those who tend to our spokes and sprockets. Merrill helped teach the classes for a year, then operated the school for four years, eventually selling it to Ron Sutphin in 1985. Sun Cycle, then located on Main Street, closed, which further opened up the bicycle market. Bike experts Alex Criss , Merrill Hayes, Duncan Coppedge and Scott Krupa pose at Ashland Cycle Sport. Submitted photo In early 1983, Merrill moved up to 191 Oak St., a 1905 house that is still home to his Ashland operation. In the late ’80s, he stored inventory in the arms vault of the Historic Ashland Armory, which Tim Cusick and I owned at the time. We had high hopes of converting it into a performing arts center. The state gave us a $500,000 grant, and the city gave us $30,000 … though all was conditioned on us finding a “matching grant.” I had only to look to the new parking lot on Pioneer Street to find an exact match. I penned a letter to our city administrator, asking him to certify the use of the value of the parking lot as a match, as the state already had approved such thinking. After a five-month wait, during which the money disappeared as lightning fires consumed the state’s budget, our administrator signed the letter, certain that it would mean nothing. That’s why we have a Craterian/Ginger Rogers Performing Arts Center in Medford and a dismal musical scene in Ashland. Merrill’s best selling bikes were made by Trek, though he carries Bianchi, Fisher, Klein Lemond and Kona, plus quality accessories and clothing from top manufacturers. He and his crew are experts in service and repair. Trek eventually demanded a Medford location, which failed until Merrill opened a second store, naming it Medford Cycle Sport. His son, Alex, manages the operation, while his two other sons, David and Brian, along with his daughter, Sarah, all worked in the shops at one time or another. They initially located the Medford shop in the South Gateway Center, though in 1999, they relocated near Barnes and Noble and Mckenzie Outfitters on Biddle Road. I went down to Ashland Cycle Sport the other day to buy a new horn for my bicycle. It seems that my frog horn had croaked, so I scanned the wall for a new squeaker. The only one I liked was a shark horn … so I slipped the attendant a fin and honked my way home. Future columns will focus on various businesses as well as key individuals and events that will lead the charge from times past to lend perspective to the revival of Ashland. Send your favorite remembrances to [email protected]. 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